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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24421594">The Apocalypse at Your Local Denny's</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuintessentialSunshine/pseuds/QuintessentialSunshine'>QuintessentialSunshine</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Doctor Suga, Enemies to Lovers, Humor, M/M, Yes I know, Zombie Apocalypse, apocalypse politics, but these are the main ones, i cant believe im writing this either, many more ships and characters, takes place in America, they live in a Denny's</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:48:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>45,811</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24421594</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuintessentialSunshine/pseuds/QuintessentialSunshine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sitting on his operating table, in the kitchen of their Denny’s-turned-home, wearing nothing but boxers, with that stupid smug smile on his face and a bloody jacket Suga recognized as Bokuto’s pressed to his left leg, was Oikawa Tooru.</p><p>Suga stares, blinks, and then “No.”</p><p>Kuroo chokes. “Um, what?</p><p>Suga gives him a hard look. “No.”</p><p>Oikawa starts laughing. Kuroo looks totally lost as for what to do. He looks at Oikawa’s wound and then back at Suga. “But like, he’s bleeding out?” He says almost like he isn’t sure.</p><p>Suga levels the snickering Oikawa with the most frigid glare humanly possible. “Then perish.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Oikawa Tooru/Sugawara Koushi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>379</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Sugawara Koushi & the Very Bad Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>so my second work and its a zombie au? I'm just as confused as you are so please bear with me for this and let me know what you think but here are a few notes about the story</p><p>Takes place in the US, somewhere in central California about 6 months after the outbreak of the virus</p><p>They turned a Denny's restaurant into a base/home</p><p>Also I know nothing about medicine this all based on loose research</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sugawara Koushi was not having a great day. </p><p> </p><p>It had started at 5 a.m. when an alarm rang out through the speakers. Signifying zombies were approaching. They were quickly taken care of but not before Tanaka got a nick across his arm and proceeded to act like he was dying as Suga rubbed disinfectant on it and a Hello Kitty band-aid. Then around eight Kenma came in complaining of stomach pains and then proceeded to vomit all over Suga. By noon he had received a message from Yaku that the antibiotics he needed weren’t going to be there for at least another month. At lunch Suga discovered they had finally run out of Tabasco sauce. At two he tripped and broke his favorite mug and at dinner, Daichi beat him at Connect 4.</p><p> </p><p>So needless to say when Bokuto burst into his booth-room just as he was lying down to sleep he was not in the mood for any of his antics. </p><p> </p><p>“Bokuto, I’m really not in the mood for whatever prank-“ Suga cuts himself off abruptly when he looks up to see Bokuto's face.</p><p> </p><p>It’s covered in blood.</p><p> </p><p>Suga jumps up and immediately begins to examine him for injuries. “Oh my god, Bokuto. Are you okay? Where are you hurt?”</p><p> </p><p>Bokuto waves his hands away. He’s panting heavily with a desperate look in his eye. “I’m fine, Suga. Kuroo and I were out scavenging down past the library when we saw this huge mob of walkers and there was this guy single-handedly holding them off! It was pretty badass honestly but not the point.” He takes a deep gasping breath. “Anyway we helped the guy and he’s not bit, but he’s hurt real bad and-“</p><p> </p><p>Suga doesn’t let Bokuto finish. He’s out the door before he can hear another word running through the dining hall to his makeshift clinic. He burst through the kitchen door, wheezing from the exertion but ready to help whoever needed it.</p><p> </p><p>He turns, doctor-mind already taking over, ready to suggest a solution for whatever grotesque injury he might have to deal with.</p><p> </p><p>“Funny running into you here, Mr. Refreshing.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga’s blood freezes. No, this can’t be happening. But no matter how many times Suga blinks, the scene in front of him never changes. Kuroo is standing beside the operating table, similarly covered in blood as Bokuto was but otherwise seemingly unharmed. His eyes moving curiously between Suga and the person on the table.</p><p> </p><p>Sitting on his operating table, in the kitchen of their Denny’s-turned-home, wearing nothing but boxers, with that stupid smug smile on his face and a bloody jacket Suga recognized as Bokuto’s pressed to his left leg, was Oikawa Tooru.</p><p> </p><p>Suga stares, blinks, and then “No.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo chokes. “Um, what?</p><p> </p><p>Suga gives him a hard look. “No.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa starts laughing. Kuroo looks totally lost as for what to do. He looks at Oikawa’s wound and then back at Suga. “But like, he’s bleeding out?” He says almost like he isn’t sure.</p><p> </p><p>Suga levels the snickering Oikawa with the most frigid glare humanly possible. “Then perish.”</p><p> </p><p>He spins on his heel and walks back through the kitchen door.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo blinks at the spot where Suga once stood. “Sooooo,” he begins with a wary glance at the newcomer. “I take it you two know each other?”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa snorts, though it quickly turns into a wince when he shifts his injured leg. “You could say that.” Kuroo arches a brow. “Let’s just say we’re old rivals.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo lights up like a Christmas tree. “Oh! You mean in volleyball?”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa looks at him with surprise. “That was part of it. How did you know?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo laughs, well, it’s more of a cackle. “Bro, welcome to Denny’s. Literally everyone here played volleyball in high school. We were all rivals at some point.”</p><p> </p><p>“Huh.” Oikawa hums. “What are the chances of that?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo shrugs. “Probably the same as the literal zombie apocalypse happening.” Oikawa has to admit that’s a solid point. “So what high school did you play for? You must be from the bay if you played Suga, right? Oh wait! Don’t tell me. Shiratorizawa? You look like the city boy type.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa blanches. “Definitely not.” He sways dangerously on the table, suddenly feeling very light-headed. “As much as I’d like to relive my high school glory days, perhaps you could get Mr. Refreshing to actually save my life? Unless you know how to stitch a wound.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo slaps his forehead. “Oh yeah! Sorry, dude. I totally forgot. Lemme just go find Suga-”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Bokuto! I swear to god if you don’t put me down-!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly the door to the clinic bursts open again. This time with a bloody Bokuto carrying a struggling Suga over his shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>“Found him.” Kuroo snorts. </p><p> </p><p>Bokuto gently puts Suga back on the floor but keeps a firm grip on his shoulder just in case he tries to bolt again. “C’mon, Suga.” He admonishes. “Don’t doctors have to help anyone in need no matter what? The Hippo Oath, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s the <em> Hippocratic </em>Oath,” Suga grumbles as he vainly struggles against Bokuto’s grip. After a few more seconds of struggling against both Bokuto’s muscles and his puppy dog eyes, Suga relents. “Fine.” He grits out and snatches his lab coat off the wall. “But I’m not happy about it.”</p><p> </p><p>Bokuto beams and Oikawa smirks. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, Doctor Refreshing~” Oikawa purrs. “I’m so glad you came back I’ve been feeling some pain in the groin area if you could-” Oikawa yelps in pain as Sugawara roughly grabs his left leg and starts examining it with no amount of gentleness. Tossing Bokuto’s jacket behind him carelessly. </p><p> </p><p>“What happened.” He deadpans. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa clenches his teeth and tries to speak through the pain but Kuroo must take pity on him because he speaks up. “He was cornered and tried to climb a fence to escape but he fell over the other side and landed on a shard of glass.” Bokuto winces in sympathy, and Kuroo gives him a friendly pat. </p><p> </p><p>Suga nods absently. He pulls his flashlight out of his pocket and looks into the gash. It definitely wasn’t pretty. About five inches long starting at the knee and ending at the mid-calf it was deep but not deep enough to see bone. It gushed weakly and Suga could already see the blood starting to clot at the edges. It must have been at least a half-hour since it was inflicted. It really was impressive Oikawa was still conscious, much less aware enough to make snippy comments. Suga glances up and notes that despite his swagger Oikawa is indeed very pale and his eyes are glassy. He was likely just minutes from passing out. </p><p> </p><p>Good. Then at least Suga wouldn’t have to hear his stupid voice. </p><p> </p><p>“Is the glass still in there?” He asks Kuroo who shakes his head and explains that Bokuto had tried to perform some simple first aid in the back of the Jeep. </p><p> </p><p>“I tried to get all I could see out but there was a lot.” Bokuto looks almost as pale as Oikawa as he recounts his clumsy attempt to remove the glass. “It kinda shattered inside his leg.” He winced. </p><p> </p><p>Sure enough, Suga could see several minuscule shards still sticking into the exposed muscle. “Kuroo, magnifying glass and tweezers, please.” Kuroo nods and darts over to the shelf on the back wall cluttered with various medical supplies. “Bokuto, your belt.”</p><p> </p><p>Bokuto’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline. “Suga, I’m flattered but is now really the time?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga shoots him a dry look and he sheepishly drops his teasing stance and quickly undoes his belt and hands it to Suga. He folds the belt in half before presenting it to Oikawa. “Bite on this.” He commands and Oikawa takes it with shaking hands.</p><p> </p><p>“What, no drugs?” He whines, though his voice is growing weak with fatigue. </p><p> </p><p>Suga doesn’t look up as he takes the tools from Kuroo and moves to start removing the glass shards. “Anesthetics are for good patients only.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa opens his mouth to retort but it quickly morphs into a pained groan as Suga starts extracting the shards without warning. He quickly shoves the belt in his mouth and says no more. Suga makes quick work of removing the glass and gives Oikawa no warning as he wipes antibiotic ointment over the cut. He hisses sharply around the belt and Suga smirks.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo shakes his head. “Suga, you are truly terrifying.” He moves to clap Bokuto on the shoulder. “C’mon, Bo. Let’s let the doctor do his job.” Bokuto looks a little put out to be missing out on the action but nods and heads for the door. Kuroo glances at Oikawa in the doorway. “Good luck, new guy.” He glances at Suga again before chuckling to himself. “Seems like you gonna need it.” Then with a wink he and Bokuto are gone, leaving Suga and Oikawa alone.</p><p> </p><p>Suga moves to get the tools he needs to stitch the wound and Oikawa takes several large breaths through his nose before spitting out the belt. Suga, needle and sutures in hand, pulled up a stool near the table Oikawa was on and went quickly to work.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa was quiet as Suga worked, and didn’t complain of any pain. Compared to the pain he has been in for the past hour, Suga's sure the small pinch of the needle through his skin felt like nothing. Stitches were always one of Suga’s favorite things to do, he found the repetition hypnotic and the way the skin slowly knit itself back together was oddly satisfying. He remembers back in college when he first stitched together a banana and suddenly found himself stitching every banana he could find. His roommate had been furious when he came home to suture filled bananas for the third time in a row. But Suga quickly shakes the memory from his head and tries to focus on his work, He’s about halfway through the wound when Oikawa decides to grace him with his voice once again. </p><p> </p><p>“Soooo” he starts and Suga’s eye twitches in annoyance. “Been a while, huh?” Suga doesn’t reply but Oikawa is apparently undeterred. “What has it been, four years? Five?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not long enough.” Suga deadpans as he shoves the needle through Oikawa’s skin perhaps harsher than needed. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa winces but after a moment opens his stupid mouth again. “Looks like you fulfilled your life-long dream of being a doctor, though I'm sure this wasn’t how you imagined it.” He takes a slow, deliberate look around the makeshift clinic. “Treating me in the kitchen of a Denny’s during the apocalypse.” Just two more and Suga would be done and he could go back to never seeing Oikawa Tooru again, just two more measly stitches. “Did you even finish med school?” He asks condescendingly. “Or was it interrupted by the whole” he waves his wand “this?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, it’s good to see you fulfilled your life long dream too.” Suga snaps as he finishes the last stitch and throws his tools into the sink. He glares at Oikawa. “Did you have to go to school to learn how to be a dick or is it something that just comes naturally?”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa’s face scrunches in anger and Suga really wishes it was appropriate for doctors to punch their patients. “I’m afraid it’s something that only comes out around you, Mr. Refreshing. Your dickishness is contagious, doctor.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga bites on his tongue to stop himself from childish retorting “This <em> dick </em>is contagious!”. Did that even make sense? Ugh!! Oikawa Tooru is the most unbearable person on this planet. He’s only been forcibly reunited with him for ten minutes and he’s already so angry he wants to break something, preferably over Oikawa’s head. </p><p> </p><p>With a huff, Suga stomps over to a cabinet and takes out a bottle of antibiotics that he hurls at Oikawa. “Take one a day to stop infection.” He growls as he washes the blood from his hands. “Or don’t, die from infection and make my day.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga takes his coat off and puts it on the hook by the door. He makes to leave without another word when Oikawa abruptly stands up. He immediately cries out as his injured leg crumples beneath him but manages to keep upright by gripping the table for support. </p><p> </p><p>“Wait.” He gasps out and Suga pauses reluctantly halfway out the door. “Are you just gonna leave me here? What I’m I supposed to do?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga blinks, and pretends to think for a moment. “Wow, that sounds like it isn’t my problem." He deadpans. "You're welcome for saving your life, by the way.” Then he breezes through the door without a second glance. </p><p> </p><p>He intends to go directly to bed but his conscious won't let him catch a break and with great annoyance at his own penchant for worrying about everyone even Oikawa Tooru, he stops at the bar to tell Kuroo and Bokuto that Oikawa needed to be shown to the bathroom and then a bed. </p><p> </p><p>He leaves before Kuroo can say anything, he doesn’t miss that knowing gleam in Kuroo’s eyes.</p><p> </p><p>So, Sugawara Koushi ends his no good very bad terrible day with a pounding headache and the fresh image of Oikawa’s smirk flashing through his mind. He groans as he pulls the curtains around his bed closed and burrows beneath his blankets. </p><p> </p><p>The apocalypse really couldn’t let him catch a break, huh?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Kuroo Tetsurou Demands Loyalty to the Grand Slam</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Welcome to Kuroo's Morning Routine in the Apocalypse!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>aaaaahhh thank you all so much for the nice comments and kudos on the first chapter! I'm so glad people actually like it! I've been so excited I churned out this chapter in like three hours haaa hope u like it!</p><p>Quick story notes:<br/>So everyone is from California and Miyagi and all those schools are in the bay area and the Tokyo prefecture is LA country area</p><p>enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kuroo Tetsurou rose with the sun. </p><p> </p><p>It was a habit he first picked up in middle school. Early morning volleyball practice meant waking up at ungodly hours, but having to drag Kenma out of bed every morning to make sure he made it said practice meant Kuroo had to wake up truly at the ass crack of dawn. </p><p> </p><p>It had been annoying at first. Of course it was, what twelve-year-old wanted to wake up at five a.m. every day? But with time it became routine and he found himself enjoying it. He would wake with his alarm, (tho after a year he no longer needed to set an alarm to wake up on time) roll out of bed and sleepily tug on his gym clothes, brush his teeth, and grab whatever fresh fruit his mom currently had sitting on the counter before slipping silently out the door and walking next door to the Kozume’s residence. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo couldn’t remember when he got a key to Kenma’s, it just felt like something that he had always had. It seemed impossible to imagine a time where he couldn’t freely enter what was basically his second home. He was always eagerly greeted by Kirby when he opened the door. Kenma’s calico kitten that had more the personality of a dog than a cat. </p><p> </p><p>(He always laughed when Kirby would suddenly jump into Kenma’s lap, or incessantly meow at him to get him to toss his favorite plush around, or demand a piece of Kenma’s lunch. Kenma had gotten a cat hoping it would have a similar temperament to himself but instead he got Kirby. “Why can’t you be a normal cat?” He would bemoan as Kirby darted around his room. Though Kuroo knew Kenma secretly adored that cat more than life itself.) </p><p> </p><p>Kirby leaped into his arms and Kuroo dutifully scratched behind his ears as he climbed the stairs to Kenma’s room. It was always a 50/50 toss up whether Kenma was asleep on his bed, DS or Gameboy still in his hands, or slumped in-front of the TV, a big fluffy blanket draped across his shoulders. Over the years Kuroo comes up with increasingly creative ways to wake the younger boy up. From simply throwing himself bodily onto him, to putting catnip on his face, to loudly shouting “Hey! Listen!” in his ear, to his greatest achievement when he managed to carry Kenma all the way to the pool in the backyard without waking him up and tossed him in. </p><p> </p><p>(Kenma was furious of course and in the midst of his laughing Kenma managed to grab his ankle and pull him in as well. Neither of them had made it to practice that morning.)</p><p> </p><p>Of course over the years Kuroo found himself taking longer and longer to wake Kenma up. Finding it oddly transfixing to gaze at Kenma as he slept. To watch the dawn caress his pale face and weave through golden hair. He would sit and listen to the soft breaths that escaped Kenma’s lips and brush the back of his hand across Kenma’s cheeks to feel the soft warmth of sleep that was wrapped around him. </p><p> </p><p>Then he would usually push him off the bed to wake him up. </p><p> </p><p>In any case, it usually took forty minutes for Kuroo to drag a whining Kenma out of his bed and out of the house. But as they walked the short distance to their school the soft oranges and pink of the sunrise would turn the whole world into a living daydream. The sound of the ocean waves accompanied Kenma's gentle voice as he recounted how long it had taken to get past a certain level or how he actually cried during this cutscene or how people who mained Genji were actually the scum of the earth.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo would listen like Kenma was giving a sermon. Nodding and gently teasing where appropriate and secretly pathetically, painfully, in love. </p><p> </p><p>When Kuroo left for UCLA he still had to wake up for morning practices, but he found he never felt lonelier than on the silent walk from his dorm to the gym.</p><p> </p><p>Today, the dawn slices through the cracks in the blinds behind their bed and Kuroo’s awake before the first blade of sunlight can cross his eyes. With a yawn he stretches his limbs with a groan. The “beds” of their Denny’s were actually just two booths pushed together and covered in as many blankets as they could find. It was a million times better than sleeping in the back of his jeep but still, booth beds were not made for his long limbs.</p><p> </p><p>As he sits up Kenma mutters grumpily next to him, winding his arms out from around Kuroo’s waist and flipping over to give Kuroo room to get out of bed without disturbing him any further. Kuroo smiles deliriously at the mess of blonde hair. He’s lost count of the mornings he’s woken up beside Kenma, but it still feels as impossibly perfect as it did the first time. These are by far his favorite mornings ever, and they were in the middle of the apocalypse. </p><p> </p><p>God, Kuroo is so whipped. </p><p> </p><p>Heart warm and fuzzy, Kuroo leans down to press an adoring kiss to Kenma’s golden hair. </p><p> </p><p>“Ughhh, fuck off, Kuroo. I want to sleep.” Kenma mumbles into his pillow. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo grins. “Love you too, darling.” He sing-songs before throwing the blankets off himself and jumping out of bed. </p><p> </p><p>He closes the makeshift curtain they have set up around all the boothbeds before heading to the bathroom. After a quick shower and making a mental note that he would have to raid Walgreens for some more extra strength hair gel, Kuroo makes his way to the kitchen where the only other early bird of the group is already busy making breakfast. </p><p> </p><p>“Morning, Yachi!” He chirps as he moves to start the coffee machine. Despite the fact that he greets her the same way every morning, Yachi still shrieks and nearly drops the pan of sizzling bacon in her hand. </p><p> </p><p>“M-Morning, Kuroo.” She stammers with a flush. “How did you sleep?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo hums absently as he watches the coffee slowly drip into the pot. “Fine, though I could really have done without dragging a bleeding stranger to Suga in the middle of the night.”</p><p> </p><p>This time she actually does drop the pan. Kuroo silently mourns the loss of that sweet, sweet bacon as Yachi gapes at him. “What?” She squeaks. “You brought someone in last night? Oh my god I didn’t even know. And they're injured?! Oh no, they’re bit aren’t they? They probably bit me while I was sleeping and-oh my god I can already feel it happening!” Yachi falls to the ground and curls into a fetal position. “You have to kill me before it takes over, Kuroo! Oh god, why did it have to end like this? I never even got to tell Kiyoko-”</p><p> </p><p>“Yachi!” Kuroo cuts in, moving to kneel down next to the quivering girl. “He wasn’t bit and neither are you. You’re fine you're not turning into a zombie.”</p><p> </p><p>Yachi blinks up at him. Her brown eyes already filled with tears over her tragic death. But as she glances down at her arms and legs and finds them unmarred she gives a sigh of relief and giggles nervously. “Oh, yeah. Of course, I knew that.” She quickly stands up and brushes herself off. She moves back to the stove to pick up her pan, resolutely avoiding eye contact with him. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo hides his grin behind his hand, she really was just too easy to mess with. He almost didn’t even have to try. </p><p> </p><p>Yachi grabs new strips of bacon and throws them into the pan. “So,” she speaks up over the sizzling. “What happened to them then? Are they okay? Oh god my mom would be so disappointed if she knew I was worried about myself before the other person first.” </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo interrupts before Yachi can send herself into a spiral again, eyeing the new bacon warily. Please, not them too. They were so young. So delicious. “Chill, Chi. He’s fine. He just had a nasty cut in his leg but Suga patched him up.”</p><p> </p><p> Kuroo’s mind flashes back to the tense confrontation between the newcomer and Suga. Kuroo didn’t even know that the caring and sunshine smiles Suga could even get that angry. Well, he shouldn’t say that. He’s definitely seen Suga annoyed plenty of times, particularly when having to give Tanaka or Hinata medical treatment. He’s even unfortunately been on the receiving end of Suga’s “I’m pissed and you’re about to feel my wrath” when Kuroo accidentally shattered a bottle of cough medicine when messing around with Bo in the clinic. He shudders at the memory.</p><p> </p><p>But none of that had been actual anger directed at a person, just their actions. But with that stranger, it seemed like Suga genuinely hated him with every fiber of his being. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo was intrigued. This dynamic between Suga and the new guy could be the most interesting thing to happen at Denny’s since Hinata brought a “cat” home only for Daichi to horrifyingly inform him that it was actually a <em> raccoon </em>that he was holding which proceeded to wreak havoc across the dining room.</p><p> </p><p>Or, ya know, the literal apocalypse. </p><p> </p><p>The coffee machine beeps at him and Kuroo pours himself a mug. “Ya know,” he begins as he moves to lean against the counter next to Yachi. “I’m about to go give him the whole orientation. You could come with me if you want. Could be fun messing with him a bit.”</p><p> </p><p>Yachi laughs and shakes her head. “Oh no, I don’t think I’m much of a first impression. You’ll do fine.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo shrugs. “Suit yourself.” He affectionately ruffles her hair as he passes. “Save me some of that bacon!” He calls as he leaves through the door and he sees her nod absently through the serving window. </p><p> </p><p>He takes long, lazy sips of his coffee as he struts over to the spare booth-bed he and Bo had given to the new guy last night. Kuroo doubts he would get much information from the guy about him and Suga if he directly asked. He would have to be more subtle with his approach. </p><p> </p><p>Donning a cocky grin Kuroo throws open the curtains around the bed. “Rise and shine, mystery man!” He shouts, hoping to startle the guy from his sleep but is surprised to find him already awake, starting demurely out the window, knees pulled up to his chest. </p><p> </p><p>At Kuroo’s boisterous arrival he turns to stare unimpressed at him. “Is this how you wake up all your guests? I’m afraid I’m gonna have to leave a poor review on AirB&amp;B.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo snorts. “Oh no, how ever will Denny’s survive without our booming tourism industry.”</p><p> </p><p>The new guy rolls his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, I’m getting kinda sick of referring to you as “new guy” in my head so you think you could tell me your name?”</p><p> </p><p>He glances warily at him before shrugging. “As exciting and mysterious as “new guy” is you can call me Oikawa. Oikawa Tooru.”</p><p> </p><p>The name rang a bell somewhere in the deep recesses of Kuroo’s mind but he didn’t ask. Intent to figure out Oikawa Tooru on his own. “Well, Oikawa Tooru.” He drawls. “I’m here to give the official tour of America’s favorite diner.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hm. I always preferred IHOP.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo gasps in mock horror and places his hand over his chest. “How dare you, sir! IHOP is a house of horror and lies!” He points an accusing finger at Oikawa. “Since you are going to become a part of the sacred house of Denny’s  you must fully renounce the International House of Penisis and fully embrace the Grand Slam.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa arches a brow. “I’m pretty sure that is not what it stands for.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo waves his hand. “Nonsense, of course it is. Then there was that time they changed their name to International House of Bitches but it just wasn’t as catchy.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa actually chuckles at that and Kuroo grins. So he did have a sense of humor after all. “Very well I conceded oh great master of pancakes.” He snips. “But what do you mean I’m going to become part of this place?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo is confused for a moment. “Well, you’re gonna stay aren’t you?”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa blinks. “I wasn’t planning on it. I’m not looking for charity”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo scoffs. “C’mon man we found you basically in the middle of nowhere with no supplies about to be eaten by forty zombies. Where else are you gonna go?”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa looks ready to protest but seems to think better of it and snaps his mouth shut. Interesting. There’s definitely more to this story.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo speaks up again. “Plus you're not gonna get far with that leg of yours, Suga recommends trying to stay off it as much as possible for at least a week.”</p><p> </p><p>He laughs. “Are you trying to convince me that Mr. Refreshing wants me to stay here for my health? I’d sooner believe IHOP had a better breakfast combo than Denny’s.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo barks out a surprised laugh. “While I appreciate the loyalty, I promise the doctor in Suga wouldn’t let him turn someone away, even someone he apparently would rather let die than look at for more than five seconds.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa ignores the bait and instead moves to grip his injured leg as if he was in great pain. “Ahhh well I guess I should follow Doctor Refreshing’s orders and keep off my poor weak leg.” He spoke faintly and dramatically draped an arm over his forehead. “I guess I won’t be able to go on your ‘orientation’, what a shame.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo’s smile grows wider and he reaches for the two objects leaning against the wall next to Oikawa’s bed. “Don’t worry, buddy. Doctor Refreshing thought of everything and left you some crutches!” Kuroo proudly brandishes the twin metal crutches and Oikawa’s face scrunches in annoyance. “Looks like you can go on my orientation after all!”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa huffs and petulantly crosses his arms. “Yippee,” he mutters. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo beams. Oh, this was gonna be so much fun.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hoped you liked it! I got kinda carried away with the flashback in the beginning but I'm a sucker for Kuroken </p><p>Next chapter will be Oikawas POV!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Oikawa Tooru Makes A Friend (Kinda)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A Denny's workers orientation and the start of a wonderful bromance</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oikawa briefly considers running as he pathetically hobbles after Kuroo on his crutches but figures he wouldn’t get very far before either a zombie or these wackjobs caught him. He isn’t sure which one is worse. </p><p> </p><p>So for now he grumpily pretends to listen as Kuroo leads him down a stretch of the dining room that has been fully dedicated to what Kuroo calls “booth-rooms” which are just old Denny’s booths with makeshift curtains around them for some semblance of privacy.</p><p> </p><p>“Definitely not soundproof though. Trust me, I’ve gotten complaints.” Kuroo winks and Oikawa crunches his nose in disgust. Gross. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo rings off the names of the various people who occupy each booth-room but Oikawa doesn’t really care. He’s not planning on sticking around long enough to get to know any of them anyways, no matter what creepy pledge Kuroo made him make to Denny’s pancakes. </p><p> </p><p>Well, he supposes he already knows one person here.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa’s really not sure what was more surprising. Suddenly seeing Mr. Refreshing again after four years of zero contact or the fact that Suga actually decided to help him. Though Oikawa supposes the silver setter always did have a soft spot. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> -he remembers tupperwares full of dinner from the dining hall that he always missed because of practice, boba from his favorite shop waiting on his desk, opening his computer when he wakes up late to find his favorite spot at the library had already been reserved for the day- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa shakes the thought from his head. Now really wasn’t the time for reminiscing. The apocalypse wasn’t really for reminiscing in general. </p><p> </p><p>“And this is where all the magic happens!” Kuroo announces as he throws himself atop a large circle table surrounded by a half-circle booth surrounded by a half-circle window. It seemed the front right corner of the Denny’s had been rounded off specifically to fit this circle booth. Kuroo must have noticed his line of thinking. “It’s the only table we left in its original place.” he patted the stained particle board fondly. “It was a gift from Denny himself, we just couldn’t move it.” </p><p> </p><p>“Uh-huh.” Oikawa deadpans. “And what ‘magic’ happens here?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo grins wolfishly at him. “War planning, my friend.” He slides off the table and into the booth. He pats the seat next to him. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa pretends to think about it for a second before sitting down and throwing his crutches on the table. He only acquiesces so easily because his armpits are getting sore though, he would just like that on the record. </p><p> </p><p>Sitting in the booth Oikawa can get a clear view of the parking lot and surrounding shopping center outside of the Denny’s. He had seen it for a brief moment last night as he was being helped out of Kuroo’s jeep and into the restaurant but he had been a little distracted trying not to pass out at the time so he hadn’t gotten a good look.</p><p> </p><p>He does now. </p><p> </p><p>The Denny’s seemed to be situated in the left corner of what was a fairly impressively sized shopping center. The parking lot had to stretch nearly a mile from where it met the Denny’s to the opposite corner. There was a string of outlet stores shaped into a long “L” with the shorter end extending out fairly close to Dennys. At the end of the outlet closest to them was a Starbucks. Something deep inside Oikawa dies at the thought of never having a Pink Drink again but he would find a way to live on.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa briefly skims the rest of the stores along the outlet. A dry cleaners, a nail salon, a dentist, a-<em> oh my god. </em> </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa gapes as he finally beholds the massive complex at the center of the shopping center. The big bright lettering on the storefront seems almost to glow as Oikawa reads it several times to be sure he’s seeing right and not having some fever dream. But no, no matter how many times Oikawa blinks it’s right there:</p><p> </p><p>Costco Wholesale</p><p> </p><p>He swears he can hear a chorus of angels sing out. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa turns unbelievingly to Kuroo who has been watching him with a look of keen interest. “You guys are idiots, right? Or is this some kinda practical joke?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo quirks a brow. “I’m afraid I’m gonna need some context before I can defend our honor, buddy.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa gapes at him. Does he seriously not get it? Oikawa gestures incredulously at the Costco. “You’re telling me there’s a Costco, the literal wet dream of any zombie apocalypse survivor, <em> right there </em> and you chose to live in the <em> Denny’s </em> five hundred feet away???”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo laughs. He actually laughs. Oikawa feels the need to slap him to get those hyena sounds to stop coming out of his mouth. “Oh go on, please tell me how I’m the ridiculous one here.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not ridiculous.” Kuroo chuckles. “Just shit at looking at the bigger picture. I totally would have smoked you in volleyball.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa sees red. Okay, he officially hates this guy. It’s one thing to make fun of him and keep him prisoner in this diner, but to insult his volleyball skills? That a sin against God himself.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa opens his mouth to literally tear Kuroo a new asshole but the other man quickly throws his hands up in surrender. “But hey maybe you’ll have to prove me wrong sometime.” He soothes with an easy smile and a wink. “Maybe when your not, uh, using-both-legs-challenged?” He sends a significant look to the crutches sitting on the table and Oikawa huffs. </p><p> </p><p>“Fine then, wise guy. What exactly am I missing from the ‘big picture’?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo starts scooching to the other side of the booth, his cocky smile diminishing with every squeak of his ass against the seat. “There really isn’t a cool way to do this, huh?” As he’s speaking his hand knocks over a bottle of salt that had been sitting on the counter, spilling the grains all across the table’s surface.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Kuroo flushes. Oikawa cackles.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Kuroo glares at him. “Let’s see you do it any better!”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Oikawa beams. In a single smooth movement, he swings his legs onto the seat next to him, and using his uninjured one pushes off the back of the chair. He slides gracefully backward around the semi-circle, stopping just before Kuroo. He slides his legs off the booth and leans forward on his elbows to rest his chin on his interlocked finger. He smirks wickedly at Kuroo. “Guess not.” He preens.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo stares at him before huffing indignantly and crossing his arms. “Yeah, whatever. Great, you get the gold medal in <em> ass-sliding </em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa just grins wider. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo composes himself. “<em> As I was saying</em>, the big picture is that first of all, Costco is way too big to be able to secure, and there’s like a ton of Z’s in there. Second, we’re not the only ones trying to get a Costco membership.” He turns to point east.  “See the building over there? The unattached one opposite the Chinese restaurant?”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa leans back to peer where Kuroo is pointing. Near the other end of the L was indeed a decent sized building separate from the rest. Oikawa squints to try to make out the logo. The apocalypse did not come with an eyecare plan and Oikawa really misses his glasses. He really took them for granted when he wore them just to look sophisticated. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“It’s….a….Applebees?” he took a shot in the dark based on the vaguely apple looking symbol. </p><p> </p><p>“Ding, ding, ding!” Kuroo exclaims and leans to press his face against the glass of the window. “But this is not just your simple Applebee's my good sir.” He dons a stuffy British accent. “For many great dangers lurk behind those unassuming walls, and not just that thing they call a club sandwich.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa snorts. </p><p> </p><p>“There’s another settlement there. About ten people we think.” Kuroo looks at him seriously. “We like to call them the BananaWasps.”</p><p> </p><p>Okay, he had to know.  “And why do you call them that?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo brightens, obviously pleased Oikawa asked. “It’s cause it’s like the evil Applebees, ya know? Wasps are obviously bee’s evil cousins and bananas are apple’s disgusting mushy uncle.”</p><p> </p><p>“I like bananas.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo eyes him. “Dude, gay.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa shrugs. “Got me there.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo’s brown eyes twinkle in interest and Oikawa realizes he just inadvertently outed himself to this man he barely knew. It wasn’t like Oikawa wanted to hide it or wasn’t as out as Elton John back before all this, it was more that Oikawa was unnerved that Kuroo was able to get it out of him without him even realizing. He would have to be more on his guard with this guy. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo doesn’t comment on his new discovery, instead turning back to gaze at the Applebees like nothing had changed. “Anyways, the Bees aren’t actually all that bad. Their leader is a guy named Terushima. He’s easy enough to get along with, even if he is a bit much at times.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa laughs. “Coming from you that’s a lot.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo grins. “Trust me, I know. Even then talking to him is kinda like staring directly into the sun. Otherwise, they're okay. I wouldn’t say we’re friends or anything but at least they're not Frozen II.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, what.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo jerks his head to the last corner Oikawa hasn’t looked at yet. At first, Oikawa thinks it’s another superstore given how big it is, but the bright neon signs and large movie posters quickly cue him in. “A movie theater?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo nods. “Yep. Frozen II was opening right when the apocalypse hit so they’ve been stuck with that huge sign advertising it for six months so I decided to call them Frozen II.” Kuroo smirks. “Mostly because it pisses them off.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa rolls his eyes. “Charming.”</p><p> </p><p>He shrugs. “If it works it works what can I say? Anyways, the guys that are settled there are the worst. We actually had a couple of skirmishes with them in the past.” Kuroo’s face darkens. “Some close calls too.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa is suprised. During his travels he had come across a handful of other survivors every now and then, and while their meetings were always tense they hadn’t ever escalated to violence.</p><p> </p><p>Though it has come very close a few times. Oikawa always did have trouble shutting his mouth when it could get him in trouble. If it hadn’t been for Iwa he probably would have met his death at the other end of a shotgun by now. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa’s breath hitches.</p><p> </p><p>Iwa.</p><p> </p><p>He still didn’t know where he was. It had all happened so fast he wasn’t even sure when they got separated. He wasn’t even sure if Iwa was still— </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa shakes his head. No, he was not even going there. Iwa was alive. He was way too smart to let a couple of zombies take him down. Plus he has all of their supplies the bastard. Oikawa wants his Gucci slides back. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo is still talking about the Frozen II group, seemingly not noticing Oikawa’s break-in composure and Oikawa quickly tries to pretend like he’s been listening the whole time, not wanting Kuroo to question him.</p><p> </p><p>“—so we had some, philosophical differences but we haven’t had any more serious problems since the truce.”</p><p> </p><p>A truce? God, this really did feel like a bunch of kids fighting over a playground. “You have a truce with Frozen II?”</p><p> </p><p>“And BananaWasps!” he chirps.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa rolls his eyes. “And how did you accomplish that? I can’t imagine you won them over with you stunning personality.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo pouts. “Hey! I’ll have you know I am a very popular guy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Just because your hot doesn’t mean you have a good personality.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh ho ho? So you think I’m hot do you, new guy?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my god.”</p><p> </p><p>“Listen, I’m flattered. I really am. Especially since you’re pretty easy on the eyes yourself.” he winks. “But I am a happily taken man!”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa groans and buries his face in his hands. “Ugh, please just feed me to the zombies.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo snickers. “But then how would we finish the orientation?” Kuroo slaps him on the back before sliding out of the booth and standing. “C’mon! That’s enough politics for now. Let’s move on to the exciting stuff.” he spins around and spreads his arms wide towards the other side of the restaurant. “The bar!”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa perks up. “Now you’ve got my attention.” He grabs his crutches and moves to follow Kuroo. </p><p> </p><p>On the way to the bar, they pass two more booth-rooms and the hostess counter that apparently had been too much of a hassle to move and later served as a pretty good lookout point. </p><p> </p><p>“Usually Kenma just sits here and plays Pokemon all day but we take shifts at night,” Kuroo explains as he gestures for Oikawa to come behind the counter.  Oikawa watches as Kuroo grabs a comm to what looks like a PA system. “We use this as an alarm if there's an emergency or something. We have different sounds for zombie, Frozen II,  Bokuto in one of his ‘moods’…”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo went on as he showed Oikawa the different buttons that correspond to each scenario. He sort of felt like he was in training for a job. It was strange. Oikawa had honestly expected Kuroo and the others to tolerate him until he could walk again. No one wanted an extra mouth to feed. Plus, Suga would probably be begging to kick him out. </p><p> </p><p>But here Kuroo was explaining how to operate their elaborate alarm system, filling him in on the inside jokes, acting like he was already part of this strange community. Perhaps, he had misjudged this man. Though instead of being suspicious of him he now only pitied him. To be so trusting in this world is to die. </p><p> </p><p>“Or you can use it to have some fun!” Kuroo grins and elbows Oikawa in the side. Oikawa tilts his head. Kuroo flips the PA system on and leans in.  “naaAAAAAAAAAAnnts IGNOYAMAAAAA bAgIthI BABA!”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa winces and slams his hand over his ears as Kuroo’s poor rendition of the opening of the Lion King booms through the entire building. Instantly a wave of “Kuroo!”s and “I swear to god”s and one “Kuroo, I’m switching your allergy pill with cyanide!” that Oikawa is pretty sure comes from Mr. Refreshing himself. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo grins wildly and grabs his arm to start tugging him away. “C’mon! Let’s get to the bar before they put us in time out!”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa can’t help it. He laughs and feels a rush of boyish mischief as he follows Kuroo as quickly as he can on his crutches. Too easy to trust maybe, but this Kuroo Tetsuro was alright. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo dramatically jumps and slides across the bar before tumbling over the edge. There’s a beat and then Kuroo’s ridiculous hair is popping up over the edge of the counter. “C.mon, new guy!<em> Hurry!</em>”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa bites back a grin as he shouts “Catch!” before tossing him his crutches and using his arms and good leg to push himself over the bar counter as well. </p><p> </p><p>He collapses next to Kuroo and they each lean their backs against the bar side by side. The glance at each other for a moment and then-</p><p> </p><p>“KUROO!! Why is there SALT all over the table?!?”</p><p> </p><p>Both of them fall apart in fits of high pealing laughter. Kuroo snorts mid-laugh and Oikawa feels his stomach starting to hurt. He can’t remember the last time he laughed like this, he thinks briefly of Iwa before Kuroo is patting his shoulder as his laughter dies down and offers him a hand up. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa takes it. He may not be planning on staying, but they had built an odd sort of camaraderie. He leans against the counter as Kuroo fumbles through the selves of alcohol for a bottle of whiskey. He grabs two glasses from under the counter and pours them each a finger. Oikawa grabs his when offered. </p><p> </p><p>“Ya know,” Kuroo begins, swirling his whiskey around the glass. “You’re not bad, Oikawa.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa snorts. “I suppose I find your presence more bearable than Doctor Refreshing.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo chokes back a laugh. “I’ll take it.” He holds up his glass. “Welcome to Denny’s, man.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa clinks his glass against Kuroo’s and tosses the whiskey back. He’s about to make some sarcastic comment when someone clears their throat from the other side of the bar. </p><p> </p><p>“If you find my presence that unbearable, maybe you shouldn’t wake me up at nine in the fucking morning. And I really don’t think jumping over bars is ’staying off your leg’, <em>Oikawa</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa is going to have a long day.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I can't believe i stayed up til five to finish this chapter, I'm so addicted to writing this story rip all my other half started stories</p><p>I hope you guys liked it! If you guys are interested I have actual layouts of the denny's and the shopping centre drawn up, I know my descriptions are probably confusing so if you wanna see them just lmk and ill scan them and attach them in the notes!</p><p>also I kinda have several ways I can see the story going so I was wondering if you guys prefer sticking to sorta the main Oisuga story or if you like the smaller character POVs too! Im having fun either way tbh</p><p>anyways thank you so much for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Hinata Shoyo: Spymaster  Extraordinaire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hinata Has A Mission But Oikawa Apparently Has a Death Wish</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry about the wait for the update! Ive been a bit busy the past few days</p><p>But here it is! Somehow hinata's chapter is the longest one yet</p><p>Also I swear his first name has a u in it? but the wiki said it didn't tell me if I'm crazy</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hinata Shoyo could not believe what he was seeing. </p><p> </p><p>He pinches himself. Nope he definitely wasn’t dreaming. That was actually the Great King standing behind the bar next to Kuroo talking to a furious looking Suga.</p><p> </p><p>When Hinata heard Kuroo and another voice just outside his booth bed he assumed it was just Bokuto or maybe Kenma. But even in his half-asleep state Hinata was sure Bokuto’s voice didn’t sound that cocky, and Kenma certainly was never that loud. Curiosity beating out his need to sleep till noon he crawled forward and peeked out through the pale blue curtain around his booth-bed.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa Tōoru was standing behind the register. Hinata blinked. And then blinked again. And then ducked his head back inside his room, blinking several more times, and then shoving his head back out again.</p><p> </p><p>Nope. That was definitely Oikawa Tooru standing in their Denny’s.</p><p> </p><p>Unless?</p><p> </p><p>A lightbulb went off over Hinata’s head.</p><p> </p><p>Unless it was Oikawa’s secret twin! Or maybe his son from the future! Or maybe it was a new advanced form of zombie that could steal peoples faces! Or maybe Oikawa's ghost has come to taunt them with phantom power serves for all eternity. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata thought all of these seemed more reasonable than the actual, living Oikawa Tooru standing ten feet away talking to Kuroo.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata kept watching them as Kuroo screamed the Lion King into the PA system. Was Kuroo in danger? Should he jump in to save Kuroo from this phantom/monster/evil twin? Or maybe he should get reinforcements, he’s sure he could sneak around to Tanaka's bed without being seen.</p><p> </p><p>Before he could act the pair suddenly tore towards the bar and slid across the top. Back near the war planning table Daichi’s angry voice suddenly calls out demanding why the table was apparently covered in salt. Immediately after a horrible cackling and shrieking erupted from behind the bar. </p><p> </p><p>The blood drains from Hinata’s face and he leaps to his feet, his entire body tenses with fight or flight. Kuroo was probably being eaten or skinned or forced to become a setter or something equally horrible. </p><p> </p><p>Oh god what is he going to tell Kenma?</p><p> </p><p>Making up his mind to charge in and save Kuroo, consequences be damned, he takes a deep breath and braces his shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>But before he can burst forward with a war cry Suga suddenly comes stomping from around the corner, his face scrunched with fury. Hinata definitely doesn't heave a sigh of relief, he could totally have taken the Oikawa monster. He watched in awe as Suga marched straight up to the great king and scolded him.  It sounded kinda like the “doctor voice” Suga used on him a lot when he got hurt, but even more angry.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata shuddered. Maybe it wasn’t the Great King he should be afraid of. </p><p> </p><p>Curious now, Hinata casually walks over to the front desk, pretending to flip through a menu as he listens in to their conversation. </p><p> </p><p>“Ahh how sweet, is the great Doctor Refreshing worried about us lowly peasants? Please don’t hurt your neck looking down at us from your high horse.” The Great King sneers at Suga. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata almost drops the menu. <em> No one </em> talked to Suga like that. </p><p> </p><p>Sure enough, a peak over the top of his menu confirmed Suga's thunderous look. Kuroo is looking wide-eyed at Oikawa like he can’t quite believe the balls on this guy. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think I’m the one looking down on anything, <em> Oikawa. </em> Or who knows, maybe the past four years have made you less of an egotistical dick.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okayyyyy!” Kuroo shouts, hurriedly moving between the two snarling men. He put a hand on both of their shoulders and flashed his signature charming smile. “Let’s all settle down, shall we. Suga, I was just showing Oikawa around, and would you look at that!” He pretends to look at a nonexistent watch on his wrist. “Noon already? Suga, could you take Oikawa to lunch for me? I gotta go wake up Kenma.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga turns his furious gaze towards Kuroo and looks ready to protest but before he can Kuroo is jumping back over the bar and hurrying off towards his booth. “Great! Thanks so much, Suga! Have fun guys!” He chirps with a wave.</p><p> </p><p>The look on Suga’s face makes Hinata fear for Kuroo’s life. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata realizes that Kuroo is going to notice him a second too late, but it seems Kuroo had been aware of his presence the entire time as he immediately locks eyes with him as he passes the front, winking and leaning in briefly to whisper: “I expect a full report on those two by tonight, Spymaster General.”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata sparkles and nods, determined. Kuroo smiles and walks off and Hinata turns back to Suga and Oikawa, more serious than ever. This was more than just curiosity now. He had a mission! He would prove himself to be the greatest spy the Denny’s had ever seen! Then maybe he could convince Daichi to let him go on more raids!</p><p> </p><p>Giddy with excitement Hinata ducks his head back behind the menu and casually scoots closer to the bar. Unfortunately, since his head is behind the menu he doesn’t see the power cable of the PA system strewn across the floor, and before he knows it he’s loudly catering to the ground right in front of his targets. </p><p> </p><p>Both of them turn to stare at him in surprise and Hinata pales. </p><p> </p><p>Okay, Shoyo. You can still pull this off, you just gotta act casual.</p><p> </p><p>“So,” he starts nervously, still staring up from the ground. “You guys catch the game last night?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga arches a brow and Oikawa stifles a mocking snort behind his hand. Suga pulls a thin flashlight from his pocket and leans down to start shining it in his eyes. “Do you have a concussion again, Hinata? I thought I told you to stop jumping off the roof.”</p><p> </p><p>Crap, this mission is severely compromised. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata quickly jumps up and waves Suga away with a nervous giggle. “I’m fine!” He squeaks which only makes Suga look more concerned. “Really! I just wasn’t looking where I was going!” He sheepishly rubs the back of his neck but Suga still looks suspicious. </p><p> </p><p>Luckily, he’s saved by Oikawa suddenly snapping his fingers. “Shrimpy! That pesky Number Ten from Karasuno! That’s who you are isn’t it?” Oikawa grins devilishly at him and Hinata blinks. “I thought it was you when I saw that garish hair, but Mr. Refreshing’s mother-henning confirmed it. It’s annoying now as it was then.”</p><p> </p><p>A vein in Suga’s forehead twitches.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata isn’t sure if he should be insulted or kinda flattered that the Great King himself remembered him. Apparently enough to remember his jersey number.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa looks around Hinata curiously. “If I remember correctly wherever Shrimpy was my dear Tobio wasn’t far behind.” Hinata freezes. “And it seems just my luck that I get stranded in a Denny’s with everyone who's ever hated me. So where is Tobio?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga looks like he’s about to punch Oikawa in the mouth but Hinata isn’t paying attention. His vision is suddenly blurring and he can hear his blood rushing through his ears like a hurricane. Everyone was always so careful about mentioning <em> him </em> around Hinata. All knowing looks and pitying smiles. It’s been so long since he’s heard his name said aloud, much less his first name. Hinata takes in a quivering breath as a memory, one he has replayed so many times it's becoming frayed at the edges, flashes through his mind.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> —strong arms wrapped around his waist, hot breath tickling the side of his neck, the smell of leather, vanilla, and something indescribable enveloping him. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “You know Suga is gonna kill you for not coming.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> The arms around him (strong familiar loving arms) tense. “Don’t remind me.” he groans. I’ll be there by Saturday.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Hinata pulls back to poke him in the nose. “Sure, I’ll just tell Suga that. I’m sure he’ll understand Or maybe Daichi will be on your side?” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> He pales and buries his face in Hinata’s hair with a groan. “It’s not my fault I have a game in Seattle.” He protests weakly and Hinata giggles as his lips trace across red locks.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “At least Tsukishima will be happy.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> He looks annoyed now. “Ugh, be sure to punch that asshole in the stomach for me. And make sure he knows that I’ll be there soon to do it myself.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Hinata mockingly salutes. “You can count on me, my King.” He laughs and suddenly he’s launching himself at Hinata and they giggle against each other’s lips for a full twenty minutes before he finally has to tear himself away and roll his suitcase out the door—  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The sound of Suga’s palm making contact with the side of Oikawa’s face shocks Hinata back to the present. “Can you please shut your stupid mouth for once in your life.” Suga growls and Oikawa stares at him, offended beyond belief and mouth open in shock. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata blinks rapidly, trying to clear the moisture from his eyes. He desperately tried to remember what Oikawa had even asked him but Suga places a soft hand on his shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata numbly turns to look into Suga’s caring amber eyes. He gives him a look Hinata’s been on the receiving end of since high school. It said: “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga turns back to Oikawa and all the softness drains out of him. “C’mon, Oikawa.” He snaps and starts walking off towards the kitchen. “Lunch is this way.” His tone leaves no room for argument.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa eyes Hinata warily for a moment, seeming to think better of pushing the topic further, before grabbing his crutches and hobbling after Suga. “Don’t think I’m going to forget that you just slapped me, Mr. Refreshing. In fact, that was rather UNrefreshing of you-“</p><p> </p><p>“Please, shut up.” Suga groans and the two continue their bickering as Suga leads them into the kitchen. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata stares blankly after them for a minute, his ears still ringing like a bomb had gone off. He unconsciously rubs the ring on his left hand. </p><p> </p><p>It takes him a minute to remember his espionage mission, but when he does he yelps and scrambles to follow after his targets. It seems Suga had unitinentonaly saved his cover, but his secrets were still not safe! </p><p> </p><p>His mind quickly pushes any thoughts that aren’t about spying from his mind and he creeps up to the serving window between the kitchen and the dining room. He does an awesome spy roll the final few feet to the window and presses his back to the wall under the window, crouching low on his knees, his hands held together in front of him in the shape of a pistol. </p><p> </p><p>He holds his breath for a moment, straining to hear anything from the kitchen but all he can hear is the clink of dishes. Taking a deep breath Hinata flips around and pokes his head up so he can see into the kitchen. Luckily Suga and Oikawa are facing away from him. Oikawa leaning against one of the stainless steel tables as he takes an angry bite from a sandwich. Suga is leaning against the same table a few feet away, eating his sandwich like he doesn't have a care in the world, and resolutely ignoring the smoldering glare Oikawa was sending him. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata stares at them for what feels like hours, but is probably only two minutes, before he groans. Are they ever going to talk? How can they handle this awkward silence? At least talk about the weather or something! Hinata is getting second-hand embarrassment just from watching. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Sho! What are you doing?” A loud voice suddenly chirps from behind him. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata flips around in a panic. Nishinoya is smiling brightly at him. He peaks around Hinata to look through the window. “Wait are you <em> spying-” </em></p><p> </p><p>Hinata lunges for Nishinoya, shoving his hands over his mouth as they fall to the ground in a tangled heap. “<em> SHHHH!” </em> He whispers severely and Noya looks at him in surprise. “ <em> Yes </em>. I’m spying on Suga and the Great King.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya’s eyes widen and Hinata tentatively removes his hands from his mouth. Noya stares at him in shock for a moment before shouting even louder than before “OIKAWA IS HERE?” </p><p> </p><p>Hinata throws his hands over Noya’s mouth again. “<em> Shhhhhh! </em>It’s supposed to be a secret mission!” He recoils in disgust when Nishinoya licks his hand and moves off him to sit against the wall again. </p><p> </p><p>Noya quickly rolls into position next to Hinata, brown eyes already sparkling with mischief. “Ahhh, a mission!” He says at a much lower volume. “Are we trying to find out something in particular?”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata pauses. Was he? Kuroo didn’t specify and Hinata really didn’t have a goal in his eavesdropping. Well, he guesses he has several questions. Why is Oikawa here? What happened to his leg? Does he know Kuroo? And the most glaring one of all. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata turns to Nishinoya. “It’s more of a general intelligence gathering but I mainly wanna know why he and Suga are like—”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> uGH</em>! Oikawa Tooru I swear you are the most disgusting human being I have ever met! A zombie is more polite! Would probably have a better personality too!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, <em> excuse me,</em> Doctor Refreshing! I didn’t realize your run down grimy kitchen required first-class manners! I’m so sorry I forgot my cane, maybe I can borrow the stick that’s shoved up your ass?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “I swear to fucking god—!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>There's a loud crash followed by a yelp. Hinata and Nishinoya jump up, both of them ready to bolt in the kitchen and protect their beloved Suga from the monstrous Oikawa. </p><p> </p><p>It quickly became clear Suga needed no saving. </p><p> </p><p>Suga was triumphantly holding Oikawa’s crutches over his head, and Oikawa was clutching frantically to the edge of the table to stay upright, sandwich scattered to the ground at his feet. He glared viciously at Suga’s smirking face.</p><p> </p><p>“I guess I’ll go shove these up my ass too, you don't need them, right?”  Suga sneers before spinning on his heel and marching towards the door. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata and Noya quickly scramble to hide or look casual but luckily Suga is in such an angry haze he doesn’t even notice them as he stomps out the door and towards his booth. </p><p> </p><p>There’s the sounds of Oikawa struggling and cursing from the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata feels like he just ran a mile. “Why they’re like that.” He breathes to Nishinoya.</p><p> </p><p>Noya stares in the direction Suga went, face also open with shock. But after a moment his lips twitch into a grin and his eyes get that same spark that usually means Hinata is about to get in trouble.</p><p> </p><p>Noya thrusts out his hand. “Shoyo! I accept this mission too! I’ll be your spy partner.”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata lights up brighter than the sun. He jumps up and down in excitement as he grips Noya’s hand. </p><p> </p><p>“Spy mission! Spy mission! Spy mission!” he chants. </p><p> </p><p>Noya laughs. “Spy mission! Spy mission!” he cheers in unison.</p><p> </p><p>“Ey! What’s this I hear about a spy mission?” Tanaka’s voice suddenly booms and Hinata and Noya turn to him in excitement.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata sparkles. He had assembled a spy squad, now for the training montage!</p><p> </p><p>~~~~</p><p> </p><p>The training montage mostly consisted of a long game of hide and seek but with several attempts at jump scares. Hinata and Tanaka are scrambling onto the roof to chase after Noya when he realizes that he’d gotten rather sidetracked from his original mission. </p><p> </p><p>The three of them quickly returned to the dining room to locate their targets and found it was already time for dinner. All the residents of Denny’s were grabbing various foods from the serving window and then moving to crowd around the bar. </p><p> </p><p>The three of them exchange looks. (At least Hinata thinks they do, they had all found shades at some point. The cool factor was definitely worth it though) In unison, they fan-out through various areas of the dining hall, making sure to stay out of sight of the many eyes in the room. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata crawls under a long table and creeps towards the bar. He can see Suga’s stethoscope socks dangling from one of the barstools next to Daichi’s massive work boots. Hinata swivels his head, looking for a pair of crutches. </p><p> </p><p>Crap. Oikawa is nowhere in sight. </p><p> </p><p>Hinata mentally notes Suga’s position before crawling back to their agreed meetup place under the big circle booth. Noya and Tanaka are already there, their hands held to their ears as if they had earpieces. </p><p> </p><p>“Sho!” Noya whisper-shouts when he sees him. “Do you know our target's status?”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata nods. “The Crow is at the watering hole.” He whispers back and Noya pinches his cheek.</p><p> </p><p>“C’mon, Hinata!” he admonishes.  “<em>En español!” </em></p><p> </p><p>Hinata sighs. That’s right Nishinoya thought this would be a good “real world opportunity” to practice his Spanish. He screws his face up in concentration. “<em>El cuervo está…. en el….. abrevadero</em>.” He says hesitantly. Tanaka snickers a little at his accent but Nishinoya pats him on the head. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“<em> Excelente, mi estudiante </em>” he praises before turning to Tanaka. “Tanaka?”</p><p> </p><p>Tanaka nods and leans forwards to lowly whisper: “<em> El Gringo está en la trastienda. </em>”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata quickly translates the phrase to English and then tries to remember what all their code words meant. “Oikawa is in the kitchen!” he asserts.</p><p> </p><p>This time both Tanaka and Noya ruffle his hair proudly.</p><p> </p><p>“We have to find a way to get them together,” Noya rubs his chin thoughtfully. “I don’t expect them to go on any monologues about their dark torrid love affair.”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata and Tanaka turn to him. “Is that what you think it is?” Tanaka asks. </p><p> </p><p>Noya grins and shrugs. “Just a hypothesis!” He suddenly snaps his fingers. “Wait a minute! Does Oikawa even know about the MARs?”</p><p> </p><p>The other two boys blink. “Ooohhhh.” they hum in unison. </p><p> </p><p>“Probably not.” Tanaka muses and Hinata nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Suga definitely didn’t tell him and I don’t think he’s talked to anyone else after Suga.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya nods thoughtfully. “You know what this means, boys?” They both turn to him. “One of us has to go undercover.”</p><p> </p><p>Five minutes later Hinata, sans sunglasses, is strolling into the kitchen whistling casually. Oikawa is the only other one in the kitchen, everyone else has moved over to the bar. He’s poking lazily through the various trays of food spread through the kitchen. Both his crutches tucked under his left arm as he holds his plate in the other. Hinata notes that there’s hardly anything on it.</p><p> </p><p>He glances nervously at the serving window where Tanaka and Nishinoya are monitoring. They send him big thumbs up and he grins back.</p><p> </p><p>He clears his throat and Oikawa turns to look at him. “Oh! Oikawa! What a surprise to see you here!” He tries to act surprised. Oikawa raises a brow. “Why aren’t you at the bar?” he asks robotically. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa is eyeing him suspiciously. “Why would I be at the bar?”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata mock gasps, perhaps a little too loudly and dramatically to be believable. “Oh, how silly of me!” He smacks his forehead. “You probably don’t know about the radio report!” He shouts. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa looks around warily. “Um, what is happening?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ha! Ha! Ha!” Hinata laughs just like he practiced. “Oh, Oikawa. This is just like the good old times, huh?” He flashes a strained smile at him.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa puts his plate down. “Am I about to be killed right now?”</p><p> </p><p>Before Hinata can reply, Bokuto's voice booms throughout the diner. “Oi! The report is starting!” </p><p> </p><p>Hinata gulps and looks at Tanaka and Noya who roll their hands in a hurry-it-up motion. He turns nervously back to Oikawa who is still looking at him like he might be hiding a knife. Before he has time to doubt himself Hinata suddenly zips behind Oikawa and starts pushing him towards the door. “C’mon! We gotta hurry or we'll miss it!” </p><p> </p><p>“Hey!” Oikawa squawks as he fumbles with his crutches to catch himself as Hinata shoves him. “What are you even talking about, Shrimpy?” Hinata ignores him and keeps pushing him towards the door. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa protests the whole time but is unable to do much to stop Hinata without falling flat on his face so he lets himself be herded to the bar and onto a stool just two away from Suga. Hinata takes the one beside him and sends Tanaka and Noya a wink as they fist bump. </p><p> </p><p>Suga glances briefly at Oikawa from the corner of his eye but quickly focuses his full attention back onto Daichi. Acting as if he never even saw Oikawa. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa huffs and crosses his arms. “Stupid, Mr. Refreshing,” he mutters under his breath before sighing and leaning his arms on the bar to rest his chin in his hand. He gives Hinata a bored look. “What am I doing here?”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata opens his mouth. “It’s the daily radio report from—“</p><p> </p><p>There’s a sudden burst of static from the radio above the bar and Bokuto quickly jumps on top of the bar and loudly shushes everyone. “Everyone quiet! It’s starting!” He stares up at the speaker like he was staring at God himself, eyes wide and bright and a little misty, his fists were clenched together so tight that his knuckles were white. Oikawa stares in bewilderment.</p><p> </p><p>Hinata spares a glance between the Great King and Suga, trying to come up with ways to get them to interact without killing each other when the static clears and a short jingle fills the air. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Good evening, anyone who might be listening. This is Tsukishima Kei reporting from an undisclosed location on a local radio frequency.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>There’s a brief shuffling of paper. </p><p> </p><p><em>“And I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi.</em>” A timid voice adds.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>And I’m Akaashi Keiji.</em>” A third voice says.</p><p> </p><p>Bokuto whimpers and falls to his knees. </p><p> </p><p><em>“And this is the Monterey Apocalypse Report, or MARs.</em>” The first voice finishes. <em>“We’re glad you survived another day.”</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Aaaaah! Yay im so excited to get to this point</p><p>Im sorry if the story has been moving a little slow but it will pick up after this point now that almost all the characters have been introduced. </p><p>Lemme know if anyone caught the mbambam reference, I was listening to it as I was writing and had to shout out my favorite brothers </p><p>also do not speak Spanish and used google translate so please tell me if it sounds completely off or weird</p><p>Idk if yall have seen that tiktok trend but Tanaka and Nishinoya are Latin kings, its just a fact and since this is set in Cali they definitely both grew up speaking Spanish. </p><p>Next chapter we're back to Suga!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Sugawara Koushi Offers An Olive Branch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lost Friends and Long-Distance Relationships Hurt, But School Spirit Triumphs Over All</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>can't lie folks, this one hurt me to write</p><p>I'm so sorry bo</p><p>Also tw for cigarettes and smoking!</p><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>The Oikawa's have a vineyard. </p><p> </p><p>Not just any vineyard. A <em> fucking </em>castle. The car had to pull through an ornate gate with one of those voice boxes just to get to the driveway that must have been at least a mile of twisting road through manicured shrubbery and bright orange poppies. </p><p> </p><p>The massive round plaza in front of the estate had an intricate floral design made of terracotta reds, muted whites, and brilliant blues. At the center was a three-tiered fountain that must have been at least ten feet in diameter. Cherubs decorated the top of the fountain and streams of water flowed in perfect arcs from their tiny trumpets.</p><p> </p><p>A grand marble staircase led to the two-story chateau. Suga didn’t know anything about architecture but even he could tell it was a masterpiece of old French design. What it lacked in height it made up for in length, Suga had to crane his neck to look at either end of the complex. The dozens of baby blue windows stood stark against the pristine white brick of the building. The front door was a wide arch lined with ivy and roses. At either corner were honest-to-god towers with tall pointed roofs that looked like they belonged on Cinderella’s castle. </p><p> </p><p>Despite the obvious French origins, the home still had a distinct California flavor. The roof was made of bright Spanish tiles and warm angular tile designs surrounded the French windows. To top it off, ivy was growing up along the tower walls, dotted with white flowers that absolutely had to be intentionally grown.  </p><p> </p><p>Suga gapes from inside the car. So in awe of the massive complex before him that he’s caught off guard when a man suddenly opens the door and says “Welcome to Chateau Oikawa, sir.” Suga yelps in surprise and Oikawa snickers.</p><p> </p><p>Suga steps out of the car into the warm Napa sun, still staring openly at the unbelievable display of wealth before him. He feels Oikawa step up next to him and he turns numbly. </p><p> </p><p>“I knew you were rich but I didn’t realize you were <em> can-literally-buy-me-rich </em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa laughs and Suga can tell he’s trying to hide a satisfied smirk. “Oh Koushi, you exaggerate.” He waves a hand. “I’m sure any middle-class family could afford to buy you.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga punches his arm. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa pouts and rubs his bicep. “Ronaldo, do you see how cruel he is to me?” He says to the finely dressed middle-aged man who opened Suga’s door. (Oh my god they have <em> servants </em>) “Can you believe I am forced to share a room with him?”</p><p> </p><p>Ronaldo nods sagely. “Simply preposterous, sir.” He turns to Suga. “My deepest condolences.” He says with a knowing smile. </p><p> </p><p>Suga barks out a surprised laugh as Oikawa begins whining. He may be completely out of his element here but it seemed ripping on Oikawa Tooru was a universal concept.</p><p> </p><p>Suga tries to help Ronaldo with his bag but he is resolutely waved off. It’s not like he has much more than a gym bag anyways. He suddenly feels very self-conscious about his collection of graphic t-shirts, thread-worn sweaters, and jeans. This seemed like the kind of place that would have a dress-code for dinner. </p><p> </p><p>As he’s having a mental panic about how to get to the nearest Goodwill to find a suit (Oh god, Napa probably didn’t even <em>have </em> a Goodwill) the sound of something clicking against the plaza stone drew his attention to the left of the chateau where an arched shrub led to a path that descended down from the hill the house was on top of into the vineyards. </p><p> </p><p>When Suga saw the source of the sound he threw his hands in the air in exasperation. “Are you kidding me?” He shrieks, turning to Oikawa in disbelief. “This is <em> ridiculous</em>, I’m being punked right now aren’t I?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m afraid not, Suga. The Oikawa’s really are this extra.” Iwaizumi calls from atop his <em> white horse </em> that he comes trotting towards them on like a <em> fucking prince</em> from the greatest fairytale ever written. </p><p> </p><p>(And okay Suga totally gets why Oikawa used to have a crush on his unfortunately straight best friend. Jesus Christ,  those <em> arms </em>)</p><p> </p><p>“Iwa!” Oikawa sings and goes to tackle Iwaizumi as soon as he is on the ground. “I missed you! Did you miss me? Who am I kidding of course you did!”</p><p> </p><p>Iwaizumi huffs in annoyance but still hugs Oikawa back. “I didn’t miss your whiny-ass voice that’s for sure.” He says too fondly to be believable. He extracts himself from Oikawa’s vice grip to greet Suga with a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Thanks for babysitting him for another semester, I was sure you would have gotten him kicked out for excessive dickishness and found a roommate that actually deserves you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Iwa!”</p><p> </p><p>Suga laughs and squeezes the hand on his shoulder. “I seriously considered it. But I couldn’t wish him on my worst enemy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Kou!”</p><p> </p><p>Iwaizumi grins at him and wraps his arm fully around his shoulders so he can start guiding him down the path he rode up on. “You're a good man, Suga. With you here for winter break I may actually be able to stop myself from killing Tooru.”</p><p> </p><p>“You are an awful best friend! I’m calling Makki right now to tell him he’s been promoted!”</p><p> </p><p>Suga strokes his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm, or I could be an accomplice? There’s certainly a lot of places to hide a body around here.”</p><p> </p><p>Iwaizumi barks out a surprised laugh and he and Suga share a conspiratorial grin over Oikawa’s protests. “Sugawara Koushi, how would you like to be my new best friend? The position just opened up.”</p><p> </p><p>Before Suga could respond Iwazumi was suddenly on the floor with an angry Oikawa on top of him. Suga watches in amusement as the two of them tousle on the ground, both trying to pin the other. </p><p> </p><p>This was certainly going to be an interesting vacation. </p><p> </p><p>“Koushi!”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>……</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Koushi!”</p><p> </p><p>Suga blinks, snapping up in his seat. The bright colors of the Oikawa’s vineyard fades to the dingy counter of the Denny’s bar, the bright blue sky morphing into the motley bottles of alcohol spread on the shelves. </p><p> </p><p>Suga turns to the voice that had pulled him from the memory and finds Daichi staring at him in concern. “Huh?”</p><p> </p><p>Daichi tilts his head towards the radio. “Are you listening? Tsukishima just said the Memorial Hospital was raided again, the entire emergency wing was burned down.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga groans and drops his forehead onto the countertop. “Dammit.” He mutters. The Memorial Hospital had been a reliable source for IV’s, anesthetics, casting plaster, and various other medical supplies they couldn’t find at the Costco or the nearest Walgreens. The next nearest hospital was an hour away. Getting there would not only be a huge drain on their gas but it was uncharted territory. There could be an untold number of zombies, or aggressive survivors, or the hospital might not even be there anymore. It was too much of a risk to take until absolutely necessary. They would have to wait for Lev and Yaku to get back and Suga will just have to get creative until then. </p><p> </p><p><em> “Reports indicate that the military is still attempting to secure D.C. and the surrounding areas.” </em> Tsukishima’s voice drones from the crackling speakers, his voice monotone. <em> “It is still unclear who is leading the military and whatever remains of the government. The line of succession for the presidency has become muddled and it is difficult to know who is alive and who isn’t.” </em></p><p> </p><p><em> “At least we know the old president is dead.” </em> Akaashi chimes in. <em> “Whoever’s in charge now is has to be more competent than he was. Even if it’s a zombie.” </em></p><p> </p><p>Suga snorts and a wave of chuckles rises from the Denny’s listeners. </p><p> </p><p><em> “Yes,” </em> Tsuki replies, obviously a little annoyed at having been interrupted. <em> “Anyways, that is all we have received in terms of news of the government. Another informant has reported that the colony of New San Francisco successfully took control of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center and intend to start using nuclear energy to try to return power to the city.” </em></p><p> </p><p>Kuroo groans. “Great, let’s have a bunch of untrained idiots messing around in a nuclear power plant, that’s always ended so well in the past.”</p><p> </p><p>He’s quickly shushed by Bokuto, though Suga has to admit Kuroo has a good point. It was sure to be a point of conversation at the next strategy meeting. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “They are likely to be contested by the unnamed militant group based on the Stanford campus.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Boooo.” Suga and Oikawa mindlessly say in unison at the mention of Stanford. They turn to look at each other in surprise. Kuroo chuckles at them and Daichi hides a snort behind his hand. Suga scowls and looks away. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. </p><p> </p><p>He can feel three sets of curious eyes staring between him and Oikawa. Tanaka and Nishinoya weren’t exactly subtle as they attempted to lean casually against the serving window but at least they had shades to hide where they were looking. (Though wearing sunglasses indoors did automatically make them suspicious) But at least they were better than Hinata who was openly staring at him with wide eyes. </p><p> </p><p>Worst. Spies. Ever. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “That concludes the official MARs report for this week.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p><em>”You just said Monterey Apocalypse Report report.” </em>Akaashi points out.</p><p><br/>
Tsukishima sighs in frustration. <em> “Yes, Akaashi. Thank you for—“</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Tsuki! You said I could do it this time!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Yamaguchi this really isn’t…” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Tsukishima trails off and Suga smiles as he pictures the puppy-dog look Yamaguchi is probably giving Tsukishima right now. It makes him think of his high school days when Yamaguchi would follow his brash and rude childhood friend all around Karasuno, looking at him like he hung the moon. </p><p> </p><p>It seems almost like another lifetime ago now. </p><p> </p><p><em> “Ugh, fine.” </em>Tsukishima finally relents and Suga swears he can hear Yamaguchi’s smile through the radio. </p><p> </p><p><em> “Thanks, Tsuki! Okay, here we go.” </em> He clears his throat and begins with a slight tremor in his voice. <em> “So we're living through some pretty, uh, awful times and since we usually report bad news I thought I could start a segment at the end where I try to make your day just a little better?” </em></p><p> </p><p>He sounds nervous and Suga wishes he could be there with him to give his underclassman a smile and strike the classic Karasuno cheer pose like he used to do when Yamaguchi was subbed in as a pinch server. For now, he hopes Yamaguchi can somehow feel his encouragement, knowing that Suga is supporting him, caring about him, worrying about him, wherever he is. </p><p> </p><p>Always observant, Daichi squeezes his arm to comfort him. Well aware of how much Suga misses their figurative children. They may all be in their twenties now, but Suga has to admit he still often saw them as those childish first years that stumbled into their gym all those years ago. </p><p> </p><p><em> “So, I found this joke book and I figured I could do a weekly joke! So um, yeah, here we go.”  </em> Yamaguchi continues. <em> “What do you call a fish with no eyes?” </em></p><p> </p><p>There’s a beat of silence. </p><p> </p><p>“What?” Bokuto shouts at the radio like it can hear him. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Um, okay you were supposed to say ‘what’ but I can’t hear you so I hope you said it.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Bokuto flashes them all a thumbs up. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Well, the answer is Fsh. Get it? Cause, oh um, wait. I’m realizing that this probably isn’t the best joke for the radio cause you can’t see the spelling. But uh, it’s funny 'cause it’s spelled f-s-h so there’s no i’s? See it’s a play on words--” </em>
</p><p> </p><p><em> “Okay!” </em> Tsukishima cuts him off. <em> “Thank you, Yamaguchi. I’m sure our audience is in stitches right now.” </em></p><p> </p><p>Suga was, so was everyone else that knew Yamaguchi personally. The rest just looked on in confusion. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Sorry, Tsuki.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Mm. Well as always Akaashi has a message for his ‘special listener’.”  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Everyone’s laughter immediately dries up and total silence fills the diner. Suga glances quickly at Bokuto before looking away. It’s not really privacy but it was at least something. Suga always felt like he was intruding on something deeply private when he listened to Akaashi’s messages. They were broadcast on public radio, but everyone knew they were just for one person in particular. </p><p> </p><p><em> “Hello, my special listener.” </em> Akaashi’s soft voice begins. <em> “As always, I hope you're still listening. I hope you’re safe.” </em> Akaashi takes a deep inhale. <em> “I saw an owl today, it wasn’t looking where it was going and smashed its face on a window. It reminded me of you.” </em> Suga laughs softly. He and Akaashi had a similar sort of dry and blunt humor that made them great friends. He misses him too. <em> “Please, don’t be like that owl. Please look where you're going and if you're with that cat of yours,” </em> Suga sees Kuroo grin out of the corner of his eye. <em> “Don’t do something stupidly dangerous just to try to look cool, especially when I’m not even there to pretend not to see it.” </em> Akaashi laughs a little, but it’s a sad, watery thing. <em> “Just stay safe, okay? Cause I will find you and I will be so pissed if you're dead when I do. I won’t ever set for you again I swear.” </em></p><p> </p><p>Two seats down Oikawa throws his hands into the air. “Okay, does literally everyone in this apocalypse play volleyball? Does the disease not affect volleyball players or something?”</p><p> </p><p>He’s quickly shushed by everyone around him and Kuroo smacks him across the head before Suga gets the chance too. He sends Kuroo a thankful smile and Kuroo winks back at him. Oikawa pouts but remains dutifully silent. </p><p> </p><p><em> “I’ll talk to you again next week, special listener.” </em> Akaashi's voice is unbearably fond and Suga’s heart aches for his two friends. <em> “I love you.” </em></p><p> </p><p>As always Bokuto chokes out, “I love you too, Akaashi.”.</p><p> </p><p>Suga isn’t looking at him but he knows there are tears streaming down Bokuto’s face as he says it. Bokuto must have heard Akaashi’s message for his “special listener” dozens of times. They were always short, and usually some variation of “stay safe and don’t do anything dumb”. But every time Bokuto is reduced to tears just at the sound of his setter’s voice. Everyone always gives him a wide berth for several hours after the MARs. Usually, Kuroo will eventually go find him on the roof or out by the dumpsters and convince him to come in and have a drink or play monopoly. Bokuto would declare that this would be the week he would finally find where MARs was broadcasting from and just like that, he would be back to his boisterous self. </p><p> </p><p>Suga understood why MARs didn’t reveal their location. Who knows how many people may be tuning into their weekly report? And not everyone out there were old friends in your local Denny’s. He’s sure New San Francisco didn’t appreciate the constant reporting on their whereabouts and who knows who else MARs had angered. But still, seeing Bokuto’s face when he returned from an unsuccessful search broke Suga’s heart. </p><p> </p><p>He always looks forward to the weekly MARs, but this part was bittersweet. It made him think of his family, of his friends, of everyone he loves, and how he doesn’t know if they're safe or even alive. He thinks of Asahi, and Kiyoko, and Kageyama and he feels like crying. He knows the others get the same way during Akaashi’s messages. He sees Hinata’s eyes fill with tears as he twists the golden band on his hand. He knows Nishinoya wraps that hairband a little tighter around his wrist. Yachi tries to hide her tears in her hands. Kuroo pulls Kenma tighter against him and refuses to let him out of his sight for the rest of the night.  </p><p> </p><p>Suga glances warily at Oikawa. He staring at Bokuto, his expression surprisingly vulnerable and almost sympathetic. Though Suga is pretty sure Oikawa is incapable of feeling sympathy for anyone besides himself. But, Suga watches as Oikawa’s lips twitch and his hands clench into tight fists on the bar and he wonders if he’s thinking of anyone right now. He thinks back to that winter at a vineyard in Napa and wonders about Iwaizumi. He always thought it would take the apocalypse to separate those two. He hopes he wasn't right. </p><p> </p><p><em> “Thank you, Akaashi.” </em> Tsukishima says, as calm and stoic as ever.  <em> “This has been MARs, reporting from an undisclosed location in Monterey county. Stay diligent. We hope you survive. We will be back next week at the same time. Goodnight.” </em></p><p> </p><p>The same jingle that plays at the top of the show sounds out again before the static of a dead radio returns. With a click, Kuroo switches the radio off and the residents of Denny’s dissipate with subdued mumbles. </p><p> </p><p>Suga hops off his barstool and stretches his arms up over his head. “I’m going for a smoke.” He tells Daichi. “Before our kids can drag me into whatever they’re scheming.” He jerks his head towards Nishinoya and Tanaka who are whispering to each other and making hand signs to Hinata who looks extremely confused. </p><p> </p><p>Daichi nods and stretches as well. “Sounds good. I’m on the first lookout shift anyways. I’ll come get you when it’s your turn.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ugh, I really wish you wouldn’t.” Suga moans but nods anyway. The lookout shift was so boring. He’d already read every book they have at least twice and he’s pretty sure he could recite the Denny’s menu by heart. </p><p> </p><p>With a wave he slips behind Kuroo and Kenma as they walk towards the front, using Kuroo’s height to obscure him from his nosy friends. He manages to make it to the entrance unseen and quickly moves through the doors out into the crisp spring air. </p><p> </p><p>The sun is just beginning to set and the world has a lazy orange hue settled over it. There are a couple of zombies Suga can see milling throughout the parking lot but they’re much too far away to be of any concern. Especially with the barrier of dining tables and chairs they had built up around the restaurant. </p><p> </p><p>With a sigh Suga leans against the wall of the restaurant, making sure to stay hidden from any windows, and pulls the pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He’s just starting to light it when the sound of the door opening makes him groan and drop the lighter back into his pocket. Could they really not give him just a few minutes of privacy? Suga loves them, he really does, but sometimes he really wishes those three would just let him catch a break. </p><p> </p><p>“Stupid fucking crutches I can’t even open a stupid fucking door.”</p><p> </p><p>But that wasn’t any of his former teammates. It’s Oikawa who stumbles clumsily out the door, trying vainly to balance on his crutches. After a moment of wobbling, he looks up and locks eyes with Suga. He blinks in shock before scowling and turning away. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh great, you’re here.” Oikawa sneers and Suga feels his own temper start to flare. “You know Doctor Refreshing, I’m starting to be convinced that you actually did let me bleed out and this is hell.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga rolls his eyes and he feels a sarcastic retort on the tip of his tongue but Oikawa’s face as he listened to Akaashi’s message flashes through his mind and suddenly Suga is very, very tired.  </p><p> </p><p>He<em> hates </em> Oikawa Tooru. He told himself four years ago that he would always hate him and he still does with an almost frightening vigor. But the world is very different than it was four years ago. Every day is a battle just to survive. Another day where you don’t know if you’ll live to see the next sunrise. A day spent not knowing if the people you love were alive. A day praying that if they aren’t that they are well and truly dead and not roaming the country as a soulless husk of the person they once were. Every day is a fight, and right now Suga doesn’t have the energy to fight with Oikawa. </p><p> </p><p>So he sighs and leans back against the wall. “Maybe you’re right.” Oikawa double-takes, convinced he must have heard him wrong. But Suga just places a cigarette in his mouth and cups his hands to light it. He takes a long drag, savoring the burn of smoke down his throat and into his lungs, before blowing out a swirling stream of smoke that dissipates into the orange sky. </p><p> </p><p>“Smoking will kill you, Doctor Refreshing. Didn’t you learn that in med school?” Oikawa says with disdain. He’s trying to get a rise out of him, Suga can tell. He’s always been uncomfortable with change, with situations he wasn’t familiar with. Oikawa likes to feel like he is in control, but Suga is too tired to play their power game right now.</p><p> </p><p>So instead of snapping back at Oikawa, he just shrugs and takes another drag. “It’s the actual zombie apocalypse. If I live long enough to die of lung cancer I’ll consider myself lucky.” He muses.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa seems to consider this for a moment. Suga guesses he doesn’t come up with something clever to say in response cause he just huffs and moves to lean against the wall, just a few feet away from where Suga is, dropping his crutches to the ground as he does.</p><p> </p><p>Suga smiles absently as silence stretches out between them. A sort of truce in the quiet. That’s how it had started all those years ago. When they returned from class or practice too exhausted to argue, too worn out to construct any insults. They would both collapse into their beds without a word. Letting a silence that was somehow never awkward fill the space that was usually overflowing with anger and irritation. </p><p> </p><p>Suga glances at Oikawa through the smoke of his cigarette. He grudgingly admits that Oikawa had only gotten more handsome in the time they had been apart. The last of the youthful roundness of his face replaced with all sharp angles and harsh lines. His hair was still a mess of waves and cowlicks. Suga remembered being woken up many times by Oikawa yelling at his uncooperative hair in the mirror. But it seemed he had given up the battle with his hair in the apocalypse, even seemingly letting it grow out so that it brushed low against his forehead and curled behind his ears. Though that may be more for a lack of hairdressers than by choice. He also had a rough stubble on his jaw, and Suga was furious that it made him look rugged and sexy. He had become more built as well. Suga had noticed last night when Oikawa sat nearly naked on his operating table but he stubbornly refused to acknowledge <em>Oikawa’s six-pack</em> while he was stitching him up. Oikawa had always been fit but it had been more of lithe slender muscle, made for calculated sets and precision service. He had the body of the setter. But now Oikawa was fully filled out. Not like Bokuto or Daichi by any stretch of the imagination, but enough that it was a stark contrast to the Oikawa in his memories. Suga wondered if that happened before all this or if it was the apocalypse that hardened Oikawa’s body. </p><p> </p><p>Apparently unable to tolerate Suga’s blatant staring any longer Oikawa turns to him and snaps “Take a picture it will last longer.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga rolls his eyes but says nothing. Instead, he fishes his carton of Marlboros from his pocket and offers it to Oikawa. A peace offering. </p><p> </p><p>The other man eyes him warily and looks ready to turn him down before he seems to think again and snatches the package from Suga’s hand. Suga smirks as he passes Oikawa the lighter but still keeps his diplomatic silence. He looks back out towards the sunset as Oikawa lights his cigarette. The sun had nearly disappeared behind the horizon and night was starting to creep in on the edges of the world, the stars already starting to blink into existence. </p><p> </p><p>That is the one thing Suga appreciates about the apocalypse. No power means no lights which means a sky full of stars and the bands of the Milky Way. It was the only thing about this world that was beautiful anymore. Suga wonders if Oikawa feels the same way. He had always loved the stars, and space, and admittedly wild conspiracy theories. </p><p> </p><p>Suga glances back at Oikawa as a question suddenly begins to burn in his mind. He knows he probably shouldn’t ask. Who knows if Oikawa would even answer him. But, he needs to know. He was Suga’s friend too. </p><p> </p><p>“Oikawa,” Suga says on an exhale of smoke.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa doesn’t look at him but Suga knows he’s listening by the way he tilts his head towards him. </p><p> </p><p>Suga hesitates, tapping the ash off the end of his cigarette and bouncing it nervously between his fingers. “Do you know where Iwazumi is?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga shouldn’t have asked. He knows the moment he sees Oikawa’s face turn dark and his stance grows defensive. He blows out a harsh stream of smoke and stares stubbornly ahead of him. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have asked, I just-” Suga stumbles over his words. “I just wanted to know if he’s alive.” He finishes weakly. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa’s gaze snaps towards him, his face bright with a fury Suga had rarely seen. “Of course he’s alive!” He snaps and Suga takes a step back in surprise at the venom in his voice. “Why would you ever think anything otherwise! Iwa is the smartest person alive he can handle himself better than any of you idiots can!”</p><p> </p><p>Suga holds his hands up in surrender. “Okay, Oikawa!” He says placatingly as Oikawa’s shoulders heave in anger. “I’m glad! I’m very glad he’s alive.” Suga waits as Oikawa takes a deep breath that seems to calm him down a fraction. “Just, Akaashi’s message made me think about him and….” he trails off. </p><p> </p><p>He isn’t sure what to say. He wanted to know if Iwazumi was alive and now he knows, but what? He’s not here with Oikawa and the severity of Oikawa’s reaction told Suga that he’s likely supposed to be. But he isn’t. Iwaizumi isn’t with Oikawa, they must have lost each other at some point which unless they had been traveling with a larger group meant Iwazumi was alone. Alone in the middle of the apocalypse. Suga wasn’t naive. He had quickly come to terms with the grim reality of their situation as he held a sobbing Hinata in his arms when Kageyama’s cell-phone was finally cut off. This world was a cruel place. It’s even crueler when you're alone and Iwazumi has been on his own for who knows how long. </p><p> </p><p>But what was Suga supposed to say? That Oikawa should give up all hope and accept what was most likely true. Should he try to sympathize with the man? Share some memory of Iwaizumi that had been grayed by the years of spiteful separation between Suga and Oikawa? </p><p> </p><p>No. What right did Suga have to talk about Iwaizumi? A man that Oikawa had known from birth, one Oikawa had grown up with, and who knew Oikawa better than anyone on earth. Compared to Oikawa, Suga had no claim to mourn a man he had once been friends with years ago. </p><p> </p><p>So instead he grabs a second cigarette and lights it, letting the soft silence return once more. Though this one sat heavy with a fragile tension Suga was unwilling to break. </p><p> </p><p>It seems Oikawa does not share Suga’s hesitation because after a few minutes he sighs and turns to stare up at the moon. "We were separated.” He says softly, confirming Suga’s suspicions but he stays quiet. For once not wanting to anger Oikawa. “It was just a few days ago. We were in a warehouse that we thought was safe. But it wasn’t. One minute there was nothing and the next there was <em> so many </em> of them.” Oikawa’s eyes grow cloudy and Suga swears he can hear the phantom moans of the undead echoing around them. “Iwa was always a better fighter than me, he had been trying to clear a path, find a way out but he went in too deep and I couldn’t follow him. I tried to call for him but there were so many, <em> so many </em> .” Oikawa’s voice is far away like it was coming from a dream. “They started chasing me and I… I ran. I had to!” Oikawa says frantically as if he was trying to convince even himself. “I had to run or <em> I would have died! </em> I tried to find him but they followed me for miles, they would never leave and I didn’t want to lead them back to him.” Oikawa throws the butt of his cigarette on the ground and stomps the embers out with brutal force. “It wasn’t until Kuroo and that bad-dye job found me that I was able to stop running. It had to have been at least two days at that point.” Oikawa shakes his head and for the first time, Suga sees the same exhaustion that he feels in his very bones reflected in Oikawa’s eyes. “I don’t know where he is.” He finishes with a morbid finality to his voice.</p><p> </p><p>Suga stares, his mouth opening and closing pointlessly. He was shocked Oikawa had shared so much with him. Had actually<em> trusted </em> him enough to tell him what had happened. To have been so vulnerable, so exposed in front of a man he seemingly hated. Suga searches for the right thing to say but comes up empty. Instead, he makes a decision. </p><p> </p><p>He steps towards Oikawa slowly, as if approaching a wild animal, and when he sees Oikawa isn’t going to punch him or anything he surges forward and wraps his arms around the taller man’s shoulders in a loose hug, one Oikawa can easily break out of if he wants too. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa gasps in surprise but doesn’t make any move to pull away. But he doesn’t return the hug either so after just a few seconds Suga pulls back to give Oikawa a determined look. </p><p> </p><p>“Tomorrow,” he starts, his voice sure and strong like it was when he was trying to boost Hinata’s confidence before a game. “We are taking Kuroo’s jeep and you are going to find Iwaizumi.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa blinks, his eyes wide in shock and just a sliver of hope. </p><p> </p><p>Suga grins and gives Oikawa a cheeky wink before stepping back. “You always were too much for just one of us to handle anyways.”</p><p> </p><p>After a moment, Oikawa smiles. It’s guarded and cocky and unsure but it’s the first smile that reaches his brown eyes. </p><p> </p><p>Maybe they would be alright after all. </p><p> </p><p>And it seems Oikawa has his own peace offering as his mouth twists into a crooked grin and he whispers “Go bears?”</p><p> </p><p>A laugh is pouring from his mouth before he can stop it. A real, genuine laugh and Oikawa chuckles along with him. And for just a moment, Suga forgets that it’s the end of the world and that he hates this man. Instead, they’re just two old college buddies laughing at an old inside joke. </p><p> </p><p>Suga smiles, bright and full of teeth, and maybe a little wistful. </p><p> </p><p>“Go fucking bears.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay, so here is where I admit that Suga and Oikawa went to UC Berkeley together which is where I go to school lollll </p><p>Is it egotistical to have my favorite characters go to my school? Oh well.</p><p>But anyways Stanford is our rival school which is why they boo it (fuck Stanfurd boysss) and Go Bears is our motto? idk just whenever you see anyone in Berkeley merch its law to shout go bears</p><p>Akaashi said fuck trump because fuck trump, please donate to blm if you can or sign some petitions!</p><p>Please let me know what you think! Comments are what drives me to keep writing haha</p><p>Also I have a Tumblr now! Come join me for an absolute mess of all my interests and fandoms https://quintessentialsunshine.tumblr.com/</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Bokuto Koutarou Just Wants Everyone To Laugh at His Jokes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Searching For Lost Things And the Premiere of Frozen II</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i am terrible at describing gore but still thought I should add a tw for typical zombie gore despcriptions</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Bokuto isn’t sure what to think of the new guy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He glances at him in the rearview mirror of Kuroo’s jeep. He’s in the back seat pretending to listen to Hinata’s rambling about one of their old volleyball games. He gives periodic hums or nods as he stares out the window, eyes darting through the broken landscape. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he and Kuroo had found him, bleeding and snarling as he beat back a dozen zombies with the butt of an empty shotgun, he hadn’t said much beyond some vague threats that died out once he realized that they were just trying to help him. Bokuto certainly wasn’t expecting him and Suga to have…well…whatever they had. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto had never seen Suga so mad, or more unwilling to treat a patient, and he helped the Frozen II guys. He had to physically drag him back into the clinic to get him to actually save the guy's life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But then this morning, Suga had come up to him and Kuroo as they were getting ready to head out on another scavenging trip and demanded they take Oikawa to help him find his friend, he even used his serious face and the voice that reminded Bokuto of his mom. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo pulled Bokuto aside before they left and told him that this must all be some elaborate prank either Suga was trying to play on Oikawa or vice versa and Bokuto was inclined to agree. He just couldn’t imagine the Suga that refused to treat Oikawa until he was forced, willingly wanting to help him just two days later. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So Bokuto was keeping a close eye on the newest addition to the Denny’s team as the four of them drove to where they had found Oikawa just two days before. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For being the one who first suggested there may be something devious going on Kuroo didn’t seem to be very concerned. Bokuto glares at his best friend as he absently hums along to the Taylor Swift CD, his fingers drumming to the beat of Our Song. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He fights the urge to sing along as the chorus comes in. (He’s so sorry Taylor, he swears it’s for a good reason) Instead, twisting around in his seat to smile brightly at Oikawa. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Soooo, Oikawa, was it?” He says easily, cutting off Hinata’s rant about Nishinoya’s signature rolling thunder. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa turns to him with a lazy stare. “Yep.” He doesn’t offer anymore but Bokuto is persistent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I’m Bokuto! I don’t think we’ve ever been properly introduced since you were like dying last time, but I’m basically the leader around here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No you're not.” Kuroo and Hinata both chime. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He glares at both of them. “Shut up! And Hinata, have some respect for your volleyball master!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata sinks into his seat and ducks his head. “Sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anyways, Ko tells me you used to play against Karasuno? What school did you go to?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Oikawa can answer, Hinata lights up. “He was the Great King of Aoba Johsai! He used to absolutely destroy us with his power serves.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa looks a bit smug and Kuroo suddenly slaps his hand against the steering wheel. “That’s where I had heard your name!” He shouts. “You had a feature in that volleyball magazine! It said you were the best setter in the whole Bay! I remember reading it back in highschool when I was doing research for nationals.” Kuroo takes his eyes from the road to smile cat-like at Oikawa in the mirror for a moment. “Though I never had to worry about it. You always lost to Shiratowizawa anyways.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto winces. Kuroo could be a little harsh sometimes, though it seemed to have the effect he wanted as Oikawa's face turned thunderous and he crossed his arms over his chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes well,” he grits. “Ushiwaka was quite the frustrating opponent, we couldn’t ever seem to stop his spikes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We did!” Hinata chirps innocently. “Remember, Oikawa? After we beat you we beat Shiratorizawa and then we went to nationals?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo and Bokuto snicker at Hinata’s unintentional burn and Oikawa takes a steadying breath as his fingers twitch around his crutches.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Yes, Shrimpy. I remember you winning by one point in the third set.” He puts great emphasis on the end of the sentence and Bokuto feels like he’s trying to defend his volleyball skills to them. “Mr. Refreshing never let me forget it either.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bingo! </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto quickly snatches the oppurtunity to bring up Suga. “Speaking of Suga.” He tries to sound casual but Kuroo’s eye roll means it must sound pretty forced. “I get the feeling you guys weren’t just high school volleyball rivals?” He wiggles his eyebrows as he says this, Oikawa could read whatever implication he liked into it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa shifts in his seat. “We were roommates in college.” He offers and all eyes in the car turn to him in interest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t say.” Kuroo hums and Bokuto can almost see the equations and numbers flashing around Kuroo’s head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t know you and Suga lived together!” Hinata says and taps a finger to his lips as he thinks. “He never mentioned you when he came back to visit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto can tell Oikawa pretends not to be offended by that. “Well, we weren’t exactly friends.” He says vaguely and by his tone Bokuto knows he won’t say anything else on the subject. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So Bokuto changes it. “So do you still play volleyball? It’d be great to have another setter around Denny’s, Suga get sick of having to set for us all the time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa relaxes a little as the topic moves off of his past. “Just for fun sometimes. I stopped playing competitively in college.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The “Why?” on Bokuto’s lips dies with Kuroo’s harsh pinch on his thigh. Right, no more touchy subjects. Bokuto can’t imagine what it would take to drag him from his greatest passion, though he knows most people are as intense about the sport as he is.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So instead he asks, “So what do you do now then?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Try not to die mostly.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto actually laughs at that. “Fair. Before all this I mean. You had a job?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa shrugs. “I was a talent agent down in LA.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh no way! Kuroo and I are from LA! Well Kuroo’s from Long Beach so not really LA but I’m from Montebello! Where’d you live?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Actually not too far from the East Side, if you just take the 10 West and then go South on Western I was just at the edge of Ladera Heights.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woahhhhh!” Bokuto cries as Kuroo gasps in horror. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa and Hinata look at them in confusion. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo stares at Oikawa like he just told him Ushiwaka liked knock-knock jokes. “You took the 10 to get from the East side to Ladera Heights? Are you insane?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto nods. “Yeah! The 10 is always jammed! Unless you like spending an extra two hours in traffic here’s what you gotta do: you take the 110 South until you hit the 105 and take the east ramp.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then you take the 405 North past Inglewood.” Kuroo adds.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then you can just get off on La Tijera and bam, your right in Ladera.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Or if you’re coming up from the south you wanna avoid LAX and take Vista Del Mar up the coast to Venice Boulevard.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto nods. “Then it’s an easy shot off Overland Drive and you dodge the Sepulveda traffic!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata tilts his head, his brown eyes bewildered. Oikawa doesn’t look like he understands much more. “Um, what are you guys even saying?” Hinata questions. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sigh. “It’s an LA thing.” they say together. Ugh. Northerners would never get it. This is why SoCal is the best Cal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um, I lived there for years and even I can’t fully understand what language you are speaking,” Oikawa argues, like they’re crazy ones.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guess you can take the boy out of the Bay but you can’t take the Bay out of the boy.” Kuroo snorts, and Bokuto grins.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go on,” He leans towards Oikawa over the center console. “Say it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa arches a brow. “Say what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“C’mon, NorCal. You know what I’m talking about.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They engage in an epic staring contest. Oikawa using his most pretentious and disdainful look that makes Bokuto feel like he was about to get roasted for not wearing designer while Bokuto uses his best puppy-dog eyes mixed with a little knowing satisfaction. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After nearly a minute Oikawa sighs in defeat and breaks the eye contact to pout towards the window as he grudgingly mutters, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Hella.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes!” Bokuto fist pumps the air in victory and Kuroo giggles beside him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You two are children, you know that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, you’re lucky this child has a driver’s license cause we’re here.” Kuroo turns the wheel as he pulls into the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse. Oikawa had explained the place to them before they left and it only took Kuroo a few moments of looking at a map of the area they had picked Oikawa up to guess where he was describing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This look like the place?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa nods, all the humor and sarcasm quickly drained from him as he looks out at the tall building. “Yes. That’s it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Uncomfortable with the sudden tension that fills the car, Bokuto tries to lighten the mood again. “Well, hopefully we can find a parking space!” He jokes as Kuroo drives through the empty lot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo gives him an unimpressed look. “2/10, bro.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, that one’s pretty overdone, Bokuto.” Hinata adds. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto crosses his arms with a grumpy huff. “You guys are the worst.” He mutters under his breath. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo does find a parking space and the four of them all climb out of the car. Hinata tries to help Oikawa with his crutches but is rudely shoved away. They gather around the back as Kuroo opens the trunk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo swings his two double-barrel shotguns over his back. “How many did you say there were?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa frowns as he thinks. “Sixty, probably more.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto and Kuroo share a look. The odds of getting away from sixty-plus zombies were pretty low, and Oikawa had already taken a fair share of the luck. But still, they promised Suga they would try and find this guy. So Kuroo nods and Bokuto snaps the bayonet onto his rifle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, we’ll go in and check out as much as we can without getting their attention. But as soon as they see us we’re back to the Jeep.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa angrily steps (crutches? Bokuto doesn’t know what the verb for crutch walking was) into Kuroo’s space. “I’m going in.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo laughs. “You’re kidding me right? Like do I even have to point out the obvious?” He gestures towards Oikawa’s legs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa scowls. “I’m not helpless, I have a bad leg not a bad arm. Give me a gun and I can shoot.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo rolls his eyes. “Like I just said, we’re gonna try not to get their attention. I’m pretty sure shooting them is the opposite of that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa didn’t back down. “I am going in, with or without you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo’s eyebrows furrow in anger and Bokuto quickly steps in between them before they start throwing punches. “C’mon, Ko.” He says lightly. “We’re gonna be moving pretty slow and if we need to make a quick escape I can always carry his flat-ass back to the jeep.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa scoffs. “Excuse me?!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto turns to him with a wide grin. “Aww don’t be jealous, we can’t all have a peach like mine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo breaks and snorts in laughter. Oikawa looks halfway between bewildered and offended. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto’s strategy is successful as Kuroo concedes and hands Oikawa a pistol. “Fine.” He relents. “But the second shit starts going down we’re outta there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa nods as he takes the pistol and Bokuto turns from the drama queens to check on Hinata who was nervously fiddling with the handle of his knives. Hinata didn’t often go on raids with them, despite his frequent demands to do so. Bokuto knew it probably wasn’t fair. Hinata wasn’t really a kid anymore at twenty-one. But almost everyone at Denny’s met Hinata as the teeny ball of energy he was at fifteen, and it was hard not to feel a little protective over him. Especially given the whole Kageyama thing. But Bokuto knows he hates how people walk around egg-shells with him whenever Akaashi is brought up. So he tries to treat Hinata more like the adult he is, even if he does still sometimes refer to him as a baby owl in his head. Though usually it comes down to Hinata’s “parents” whether he goes on the next raid or not. No one was more protective over the smallest middle blocker than Suga.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Suga had given him the green light to go with them today. Bokuto’s not sure if it’s because Suga thought this wouldn’t be too dangerous or if Hinata was a means of keeping an eye on Oikawa. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Hinata.” Bokuto says as he ruffles Hinata red hair. “You ready to kick some zombie ass?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata brightens under his encouragement, just like he had years ago when Bokuto showed him a new volleyball attack. “Let’s do this!” He cheers and Bokuto has to grab the back of his shirt to stop him from charging in by himself. It really never took much to pump Hinata up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo locks the jeep before the four of them tentatively approach the warehouse. Bokuto looks for any signs that may indicate what the warehouse stored but it’s tall white walls were blank.  They press their backs against the wall and Kuroo leads them towards a door. Bokuto immediately moves to the opposite side of the door and they nod at each other before Kuroo opens the door and they both aim their weapons into the darkness. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great.” Bokuto mumbles. “Of course, it’s pitch black. Why can’t we ever go to Six Flags or like a Toys R Us?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Toys R Us went out of business way before the apocalypse.” Oikawa points out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto frowns. “Oh yeah. RIP that giraffe.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo pulls his flashlight from his pocket while Bokuto grudgingly does the same. They lead the other two into the warehouse, keeping as silent as they can.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their flashlights illuminate a long hallway of shelves stacked with boxes upon boxes that reach nearly ten feet into the air. Curiosity getting the better of him, Bokuto walks over to peek inside the boxes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah sweet!” He cheers and is quickly shushed by his companions. “But,” he protests quietly as he gestures towards the box. “It’s Legos!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata perks up in interest but Kuroo and Oikawa give him unimpressed looks. “Not really the time, Bo.” Kuroo hisses and keeps moving further in. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto pouts, giving one last longing glance at the Star Wars Lego sets before following. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The warehouse is massive. The ceiling must be at least forty feet up, crisscrossed with metal hanging lights that have long since gone dark. Boxes filled the entire place in long rows that made it impossible to see the true size of the place, or really anything beyond the narrow hallway in front of them. They walk two by two, Bokuto and Kuroo leading, straining for any noise other than their own footsteps.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they reach the end of their row they are confronted with a long open corridor, at least ten feet wide that stretches the entire length of the warehouse. There seem to be endless rows and shelves, and endless places for someone to be hiding.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo must have been having similar thoughts. “This place is going to take forever to search through.” He groans quietly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is this the part where you tell us to split up, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fred</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Oikawa asks condescendingly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Daphne</span>
 </em>
 <span>” Kuroo snaps back. “That’s like the first rule of the zombie apocalypse, never split up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto and Hinata nod in agreement. “Do you remember where you got separated?” Hinata asks reasonably. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa cranes his neck around and Bokuto tries to shine his flashlight to help. After a moment Oikawa settles on going right and they follow. The move slowly down the corridor, shining their flashlights down each of the long rows of boxes. After a moment Kuroo hands Hinata his flashlight and drops slightly back, grabbing Bokuto’s arm to pull him back with him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto looks at him curiously and Kuroo leans towards his ear to whisper low and quiet. “Dude said there were at least sixty zombies here. We definitely would have heard them by now.” Bokuto nods, he had a point. Zombies weren’t exactly known for their stealth abilities. “No to mention this place looks basically untouched.” Kuroo tightens the grip on one of his shotguns. “Something’s not right here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto snickers. “Dude, totally awesome horror movie line.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo grins. “Thanks.” They fistbump.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a sudden high-pitched squeak from Hinata and both of them dart forward, weapons drawn. Hinata nervously eyeing a…a head? A single severed head of a long-dead zombie, a bullet hole through the forehead. Bokuto pokes at it with his bayonet and Hinata gags as it rolls over to turn its milky white eyes towards them. Bokuto scrunches his nose in disgust at the smell. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is it,” Oikawa says a few feet ahead of them, staring down one of the rows to the left. Bokuto warily walks up beside him to look down the aisle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, found the zombies.” He blanches and Hinata gags beside him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lining the row was dozens and dozens of mutilated rotten corpses strewn along the floor, on overturned shelves, piling on top of each other in festering heaps. All the corpses were in various states of dismemberment, some with severed heads, others with no limbs, most with intestines and sinewy muscle spilling out of their pallid flesh. All with either a bullet hole or a stab wound through their head. Bokuto even saw a few skulls cut clean down the middle, brain tissue dangling uselessly from scraps of bone. He listens for any moaning that would indicate any of them were still alive, but there was only the buzzing of flies as they feasted on the rotten meat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto pulls his shirt up over his nose to try to block out the putrid stench of death and Hinata has to look away. Even Kuroo winces at the sight. Oikawa, though, appears unaffected by the gore. Instead, wading through the corpses calmly, his eyes searching. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oikawa,” Kuroo says, taking a tentative step forwards and cringing when he steps on what looks like a spleen with a wet squelch. “This is a massacre. I thought you said your friend was alone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He was.” Oikawa murmurs as he leans down to examine one of the corpses. Bokuto wants to turn away. He knows Oikawa is looking for the face of his friend in those of the undead. It was one of Bokuto’s recurring nightmares of taking down an entire horde of zombies only to turn and see Akaashi’s lifeless face amongst those he slaughtered. Bokuto really hopes Oikawa doesn’t see his friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s impossible,” Hinata says shakily. “How could one person kill all of them?” He makes a wide sweeping gesture at the damage before them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa shakes his head. “He didn’t. He didn’t have a gun.” He runs his hands over the surface of a box riddled with bullet holes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo hums. “So someone else was here.” He carefully tiptoes through the corpses towards Oikawa. “Someone with a lot of firepower.” He moves to put his hand on Oikawa's shoulder. “Look, buddy. I don’t think anyone could have—“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Kuroo can finish what was surely an epic speech of loss and love Oikawa is darting down the hall as fast as he can on his crutches. Kuroo barks in surprise and Bokuto moves forward, is he really trying to run? But he stops at the end of the row in front of a slouched corpse, leaning against a shelf of Harry Potter Lego sets, head caved in with its brains dripping like a chunky soup. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh no. Bokuto thinks as Oikawa drops to his knees in front of the body. This was the worst part of the apocalypse. Not that there were many good parts. But having to watch so many people mourn the ones they love. To listen to their wails as they imagine what their last moments must have been like. It always makes him think of Akaashi. Of what he would do if Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. the radio stayed static. Or if Tsuki got on and said</span>
  <em>
    <span> “We are sad to report that we have lost one of our hosts”</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If he never got to hear that “I love you” again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wilts and the three Denny’s denizens share pitying looks. They all carefully approach Oikawa, trying to think of something they could possibly say. Bokuto crouches down next to him, peaking at the corpse, fighting the urge to gag at the sight of maggots twisting their way through the shattered skull, before turning to Oikawa. He had dropped his crutches on the ground beside him and in his hands, held in a vice grip, is a baseball bat made of a dark wood with nails embedded in the top.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is Iwa’s.” He whispers and Bokuto thinks he’s talking about the corpse but when he looks at his face his brown eyes are fixed firmly on the bat. Tracing the marred wood reverently. Oh, so the corpse wasn’t his lost friend. Bokuto isn’t sure to be relieved or not. Oikawa’s friend wasn’t this mutilated thing, but who knows if he’s somewhere even worse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is what he was using to fight them when we got separated.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo shakes his head. “Oikawa if he lost his weapon it’s likely he didn’t make it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Shut up!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Oikawa shouts suddenly, his voice echoing off the looming dark walls. “If he was dead he would be here! I would have found his body. But none of these </span>
  <em>
    <span>things</span>
  </em>
  <span> are him!” He stands, leaving his crutches on the ground, and turns to face Kuroo, his face alight with fury.  “He’s not here, our stuff isn’t here. We had supplies. Backpacks, food, </span>
  <em>
    <span>things</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Things that would be here if he was dead but </span>
  <em>
    <span>they’re not</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto wants to point out that whoever came and killed all the zombies may have taken it but quickly thinks better. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Iwa must have still been alive when whoever else got here.” Oikawa reasons as he starts limping back to the main corridor.  “He</span>
  <em>
    <span> must have</span>
  </em>
  <span> escaped.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kuroo throws his hands in the air and gives him an exasperated look. Bokuto shakes his head and makes a gesture that roughly translates to “let me handle this” before snatching up the crutches Oikawa had abandoned and hurrying after him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey man, maybe you're right,” Bokuto says as he falls into step with him, trying to placate the fuming man. “Maybe we can look around outside for some sign of who it was, yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa eyes him suspiciously for a moment before nodding. Sighing in relief Bokuto offers Oikawa his crutches back, which he takes but refuses to relinquish his grip on the baseball bat as they head back to the entrance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto may or may not grab the Millennium Falcon Lego set and Poe Dameron’s X-Wing as they leave, but Hinata’s been sworn to secrecy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They spend the next hour searching the area around the warehouse looking for anything that may tell them who was here and where they went. Tire tracks, food wrappers, an ominous note made of magazine clippings that told them how much money it would take to get Oikawa’s friend back.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But they find nothing, not a footprint, not a note, not the slightest hint as to who cleared the warehouse and whether or not Iwaizumi is with them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa is silent on the drive back and Bokuto doesn’t try to talk to him. He just stares down at the bat that he cradles protectively in his arms, his face devoid of any emotion.  Even Hinata seems down and Kuroo skips Teardrops on My Guitar when it plays. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time Kuroo is pulling into the Denny’s parking lot Bokuto is twitching in his seat, dying in the tense car, and trying desperately not to make a stupid joke to try to break it. He’s so ready to get out of here and go hang out with Tanaka and Noya for a few hours until all of this is in the back of his mind. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But it seems he isn’t getting off the hook that easy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Kuroo turns the corner so the front entrance is visible and they both take a sharp intake of breath, Bokuto’s hand immediately goes to the knife strapped to his side. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are they doing here?” Kuroo growls as he pulls into his usual parking spot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto shakes his head, his entire body alight with nerves. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daichi, Suga, and Kenma are standing outside the barricade, all of them looking vaguely irritated and Suga looking nearly ready to fight. Across from them, standing just a few feet away and fully armed is Frozen II. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ushiwaka is standing in the middle, that stupid massive automatic rifle strapped across his back, his mouth moving slowly as he spoke to a fuming Suga. To his left stood Semi, fully outfitted with his belt of grenades, smiling like this was a pleasant conversation between neighbors. And to his right was Tendou, looking bored as he absently examined the blade of one of his katanas. All six of them turn to look at the jeep as the rumbling engine announces their presence</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You. Are. Fuckng. Kidding. Me.” Oikawa drones from the back seat, sounding almost defeated. “Frozen II, is Shiratowizawa. Frozen II is Shira</span>
  <em>
    <span>-fucking-</span>
  </em>
  <span>towizawa.” He repeats like he can’t believe it. “None of you find it a little strange that of</span>
  <em>
    <span> all the people</span>
  </em>
  <span> we could be stuck in this hellscape with, we're all former volleyball rivals?!? </span>
  <em>
    <span>No one??</span>
  </em>
  <span> Am I the crazy one here?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dude, you gotta let that go,” Bokuto says as he eyes Frozen II. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah man, you’re kinda breaking the fourth wall here,” Kuroo adds as he leans over to flip open the center console and pull out a pistol. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turns to give Oikawa and Hinata a hard glare as he undoes the safety. “You two stay here until we figure out what is going on. The windows are tinted so they won’t be able to see you.” He says mostly to Oikawa who looks ready to argue with him.  “Just give us a couple minutes, okay?” Oikawa huffs and crosses his arms but nods.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto and Kuroo nod to each other before getting out and slamming the door in sync. Damn, he and Kuroo are so cool. They </span>
  <em>
    <span>totally</span>
  </em>
  <span> could have starred in a buddy-cop movie together. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, look who it is.” Tendou sings as they approach. “Its dumb and dumber, here to save the day.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto scowls, Tendou always pisses him off but Kuroo puts a hand on his chest before he can snap back at Tendou’s smug face. “Ushiwaka.” Kuroo begins calmly. “You should have told us you were coming we would have got the booster chairs ready.” He moves quickly to where Kenma is standing, stepping in front of him and subtly shielding him from Frozen II. Bokuto sees a fraction of tension fade from Kuroo’s shoulders when Kenma gently clutches the back of his shirt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tendou snorts, and Ushiwaka remains impassive as always. “We’re just here for some business, Kuroo.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t remember AK-47s being part of my last business meeting.” Bokuto snaps.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You and I have been to very different business meetings then.” Tendou hums. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kuroo, Bokuto,” Suga says seriously, not taking his eyes off of Ushiwaka. “Frozen II here,” Semi huffs angrily at the nickname and Tendou licks his lips. “Was just asking if we’ve seen Oikawa Tooru of all people.” Suga’s tone is strained, though Bokuto can tell he’s trying to sound casual. “I told him I haven’t seen that asshole in years. But maybe you guys have seen him? He’s tall, brown hair, a face that you can’t help but wanna punch?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He and Kuroo freeze. Frozen II was looking for Oikawa but why? What could they possibly want with him? Suga was clearly trying to make it sound like they hadn’t seen or heard of him, and Bokuto thanks his lucky stars that Kuroo had Oikawa stay in the car. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto puts on his best-confused face, honed from years of actually having no idea what people were talking about most of the time, and shakes his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Kuroo and I were just out looking for any gas stations that haven’t been siphoned yet.” He turns to Suga with an apologetic smile. “No luck though. Sorry Suga, it will be a little longer till we can get to that new hospital.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suga waves him off. “No worries, Bokuto.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Daichi steps forward. “Well, you heard them. None of us have seen Oikawa. So I think it’s time you go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tendou pouts but Ushiwaka nods. “Very well, we’ll be going. But if you do see Oikawa or hear of his whereabouts we would like to know.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Or else!” Tendou says dramatically and Semi rolls his eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course, though I don’t imagine we’ll find him,” Suga says, and Bokuto watches as, just for a moment, Suga’s eyes flicker over to the jeep where Oikawa is still sitting in the back seat, likely watching the entire encounter. It is less than a second that Suga breaks his gaze, but just the second is enough for Tendou. Whose beady eyes widen and then zero in on the jeep where Suga had looked. Bokuto feels a knot grow in his stomach as a devilish smile twists across Tendou’s face. He flips his katana back into its sheath with a flourish and turns back to Suga with his hands clasped gleefully behind his back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh and Suga, dear.” He chirps and walks towards Suga in that creepy drifting way he does. “We are going to need you to come in tomorrow.” Daichi and Bokuto grab their weapons in warning as Tendou marches right up to Suga to lean down and stare into his face. But Suga holds up a hand as he stares Tendou down, not even flinching. “One of ours needs some personal attention, from the good Doctor.” Bokuto shivers, he hates how Tendou can make everything sound so creepy. “Be sure to bring a cast, I’m thinking a pink one!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suga frowns but nods. “Okay, I can be there tomorrow afternoon but if the patient needs immediate attention I should really go over now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto is reminded of how much he admires Suga. Suga cared, like</span>
  <em>
    <span> really cared</span>
  </em>
  <span>, about everyone. Even here in the end of the world where any sense of morality or law has vanished Suga has always stayed true to his values, to his beliefs that everyone had the right to life and medical treatment. It didn’t matter if it was Hinata or Tendou Satori, Suga treated each of them like they were the most important patient he had ever had. If Bokuto was in his place he doesn’t know if he would be above giving Frozen II some pill laced with poison. Something in him cries out in horror that he can even think that, but a larger part of him, the one that watched Goshki nearly take off Kuroo’s arm a few months ago and the one that has to live every day not knowing if Akaashi is still alive, knows that that’s simply the way of the world. But not for Suga. Suga would try to save everyone he could, even if those he was saving wanted to kill him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tendou giggles for no apparent reason. “Oh no need, Suga. Tomorrow will be just fine!” He spins around and sways back to Ushiwaka who nods at Suga. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’ll send Semi to bring you over.” Then without another word he turns and starts walking back towards the movie theater, Tendou and Semi following. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They all remain tense until they finally watch them disappear around the corner of the movie theater. As soon as their out of sight Bokuto sighs and runs a hand through his hair, Suga gasps like he had been holding his breath the whole time, Daichi glances worriedly at Suga before turning and walking back into the Denny’s, likely to tell Nishinoya and Tanaka to stand down. Kuroo spins around, wraps Kenma in a death grip, and buries his face into his hair, no doubt mumbling words meant just for him into the golden locks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto walks over to Suga and places a comforting hand on his shoulder, and Suga collapses against him with a groan. Smiling slightly, Bokuto wraps his arms around the smaller man and rests his chin on his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suga wasn’t usually the one that had to deal with conflict or their negotiations with the other groups. Suga was a healer, not a politician like Kuroo or even Daichi, or a fighter like Bokuto and Tanaka. Not to say that Suga couldn’t handle himself under pressure, he was a doctor after all, just that he preferred to analyze the situation from the sidelines. Find the other team's weaknesses and encourage his team members to exploit them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You okay?” Bokuto asks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suga just whines, the sound muffled from where he’s pressed against Bokuto’s chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” He agrees, then pulls back to look at Suga with a teasing smile. “Hey, at least it’s not you who has the biggest problems with Oikawa anymore!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suga rolls his eyes but laughs anyway. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Encouraged Bokuto continues, “Maybe you can even get Frozen II to take him out for you.” He quips and Suga snorts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bokuto you really are the smartest one here, you know that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bokuto sparkles under the praise and puffs his chest. “I know but it’s always nice to hear.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have been to LA maybe two times in my life so I'm sorry if my description of LA makes no sense</p><p>The talking about all the roads is a reference to the Californians SNL skit which is hilarious if you haven't seen it I highly reccomend</p><p>Also I'm sorry Bokuto, NorCal is best Cal you are wrong </p><p>As always thank you for reading and please let me know what you think!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Nishinoya Yuu Has Some Regrets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nishinoya is Mad to Put it Lightly, But For Good Reason</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ooooo ive been waiting for to write this:</p><p>tw for character death</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nishinoya is <em> pissed.  </em></p><p> </p><p>Like, some random dude is trying to flirt with Kiyoko right in front of him, pissed.</p><p> </p><p>He slams his hands violently onto the surface of the table to demonstrate to all around him just how pissed he is. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m pissed!” He shouts, just to make sure he really gets his point across. </p><p> </p><p>All heads turn to look at him. To his left Suga tries to put a calming hand on his shoulder and to his right, Ryuu seems to be debating how much trouble he’d get in if he joined Nishinoya in his outburst. </p><p> </p><p>The entirety of the Denny’s crew were all gathered at the circle booth to discuss the confrontation with Frozen II. As soon as Kenma spotted the fuckers approaching Nishinoya had been ready to go out there and beat them back with just his fists if he had to. But Daichi and Suga had firmly told him and Ryuu to stay at the door unless it looked like they needed help. If it hadn’t been for his manly instinct to protect a whimpering Yachi he would have darted out of the doors to deck Tendou Satori right in his stupid, smirking face the second he took a step towards Suga. But he stayed put as Daichi had told him and eventually, Frozen II turned and walked back to the theater. </p><p> </p><p>It had been another hour until Kuroo deemed it clear to take Oikawa (which Nishinoya still wasn’t quite over the fact that Oikawa was living with them now, if anything the spy mission had made him more astonished) from the jeep and into the restaurant. Once he was safely indoors Daichi and Kuroo immediately announced an emergency meeting, and their rag-tag little Denny’s family (plus Oikawa) gathered at the circle booth. Nishinoya, Tanaka, Suga, Hinata, Kenma and Yachi squeezed together on the booth while Oikawa and Daichi pulled up chairs to the table. Kuroo and Bokuto remained standing which made Noya roll his eyes. He knows they’re just doing it to look cool, like the rebel generals in Star Wars. Just sit down for Christ’s sake. </p><p> </p><p>(Part of his annoyance came from the fact that they actually <em> did </em> look pretty cool in the low light of the Denny’s with their arms crossed and brows drawn together. But he would never admit that. Though the next meeting he was definitely standing.)</p><p> </p><p>Once they were all gathered Daichi explained what had happened. Apparently, Frozen II had come demanding the Great King himself. Suga had denied ever seeing him, and in return, Tendou demanded Suga come to the theater tomorrow. </p><p> </p><p>“We know it’s not ideal, Nishinoya. But it’s what we agreed to.” Daichi says calmly, always the stoic leader. Which honestly just makes Noya more pissed. How could Daichi be so calm about this??</p><p> </p><p>“How are you all okay with this?” He growls. “They think they can just show up with weapons and then demand Suga go to their place alone? They’re crazy!”</p><p> </p><p>“We couldn’t exactly tell them no when they were fully armed like that.” Kenma points out softly, and several people nod. “They would have seen it as us breaking the truce and probably taken the opportunity to attack.” Kenma keeps his gaze on the table as he explains their motivations. Always the brain. “They forced us into a corner, we had no choice but to say yes. Especially given the fact that we were already hiding Oikawa from them.” </p><p> </p><p>He nods towards Oikawa who was sitting grumpily in his chair, muttering what sounds like <em> “ </em> Fucking Ushiwaka” and “ <em> ‘Should have come to Shiratowizawa,’ </em> he’s never gonna let that go is he?”</p><p> </p><p>Nishinoya shakes his head, exasperated. “This isn’t part of the truce though!” He argues. “The deal was Suga would go once every two weeks, with one of us with him, and if they had an emergency they would bring them here! They can’t just start demanding Suga be at their beck and call!”</p><p> </p><p>“Nishinoya.” Suga tries, and Noya turns his fury towards him. </p><p> </p><p>“No Suga!” He snaps. “I know you have some ridiculous self-sacrificing complex—” </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa snorts. “Preach.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya ignores him. “But I’m not going to just stand here and let you walk into enemy territory because one of those Shiratorizawa fucks sprained an ankle!”</p><p> </p><p>Noya searches the faces of his friends, looking for anyone to support him in this. Unsurprisingly, Daichi and Kuroo were giving him disapproving looks. Hinata and Ryuu were nodding in agreement but looked hesitant to actually say anything. Yachi avoided his eyes. Kenma and Oikawa looked bored. </p><p> </p><p>Bokuto sighs and runs a hand through his two-toned hair. “I don’t like it either, Noya.” He shifts nervously on his feet. “But we can't exactly have them come here with Oikawa. I’m pretty sure Tendou already thinks somethings going on. We really can’t give them another reason to suspect us.”</p><p> </p><p>“So give them Oikawa!” His words seem to echo through the restaurant as a deathly silence follows his idea. Everyone stared at him with wide eyes. Well, everyone but Oikawa who just arched a brow, seemingly interested in how they would respond. </p><p> </p><p>Nishinoya felt like tearing his hair out. Why did it feel like he was speaking a different language than these people?! “Oh c’mon, stop looking at me like I just suggested we kill the guy! We don’t know what Frozen II wants with him anyways. Maybe they want him over for a fucking movie night!” </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa chuckles,  “Oo, what are we watching?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo smacks the back of his head. </p><p> </p><p>Noya looks pointedly at his former teammates. “You’re telling me that you’re seriously going to put <em> Suga’s life </em> in danger for this guy?” He throws a hand out towards Oikawa. “We don’t even know him! The only thing I know about him is that he used to annoy the hell out me in high school and we’re putting the entire restaurant in danger to protect him?”</p><p> </p><p>Beside him, Ryuu nods. “He has a point.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya fights the urge to dance. Finally, someone listening to reason!</p><p> </p><p>“We are putting a lot on the line for him.” Ryuu says lowly. “And from what I’ve seen we don’t even particularly like the guy.” He shoots a significant look at Suga who huffs and crosses his arms, not denying the sentiment. </p><p> </p><p>“Look, we’re not handing him over to Frozen II.” Kuroo interjects. “You’re right, Noya. We don’t know why they want him.” He glares sharply at the Libero. “So does that mean you’d be okay if they do kill him?”</p><p> </p><p>Noya grits his teeth. “Better him than Suga.” He spits.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa lazily raises his hand. “I am sitting right here, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>He is ignored as the rest of Denny’s watches the staredown between Noya and Kuroo. </p><p> </p><p>Ryuu and Bokuto both start talking at the same time and suddenly the table explodes in shouts and fists pounding. Everyone arguing over each other with Noya and Kuroo nearly screaming at each other in the middle. </p><p> </p><p>Ryuu throws a plastic fork. Bokuto jumps on the table. Hinata starts making sound effects. Daichi turns red from shouting. Yachi bursts into tears.</p><p> </p><p>And that seems to be the final straw. </p><p> </p><p>Suga, who up until now had remained relatively quiet, suddenly stands and, with the intensity he used back when he was yelling at them for losing concentration during a game, shouts “Everyone, <em> shut up!” </em></p><p> </p><p>Either out of fear or respect or maybe a bit of both, everyone immediately silences. Bokuto shamefully drops off the table under Suga’s glare and Noya ducks his head to avoid his gaze, face still pulled into a tight grimace.</p><p> </p><p>Suga takes a deep breath. “When we made the truce I promised Ushiwaka and Terushima that I would provide their people with medical treatment.” His amber eyes are hard and steely as he speaks. “And I’m going to the theater tomorrow to administer care for whoever needs it. We aren’t telling them about Oikawa and none of you are going to stop me from going. That’s final.”</p><p> </p><p>Nishinoya’s hands curl into tight fists in his lap. How could they not get it? How could everyone act like this wasn’t an absolutely stupid idea? Like risking Suga’s life was negotiable? How could they expect him to deal with losing someone else?</p><p> </p><p>There’s a beat of silence before a slow rhythmic clapping breaks it. Noya glances at Oikawa who is staring at Suga with a lazy smirk. “Very moving speech, Doctor Refreshing. We’re all very impressed.” He stretches his arms up above his head and yawns. “Can I take a nap now?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga scowls and opens his mouth to retort but it’s at that moment that Noya<em> snaps </em>. </p><p> </p><p>“SHUT UP!” He screams at Oikawa, who for once has some fucking emotion on his face as he reels back in surprise. Noya turns back to Suga and grabs the front of his shirt in a tight grip. “You’re willing to die for this asshole?!” He demands and Suga’s mouth drops open in shock. “Your stupid morals and stupid caring are worth more than your life?!” Noya feels hot, angry tears start to prick at the corner of his eyes but he can’t seem to stop. “You’re an idiot!” He snarls.</p><p> </p><p>He feels Ryuu put a hand on his shoulder. “Yuu, maybe we should—“</p><p> </p><p>“NO!” he shouts. “No, you’re not doing this! You’re not gonna put yourself in danger and get yourself killed just to protect me! <em> I can’t watch you die, Asahi! </em>”</p><p> </p><p>Suga’s eyes grow wide and he brings his hands up to curl around Noya’s wrists. “Noya,” he whispers softly. </p><p> </p><p>Denny’s is completely silent save for Noya’s heavy, laboring breaths. Nine pairs of eyes stare at him with open shock and, like a cold bucket of water being dumped over his head, Noya realizes what he said. </p><p> </p><p>It suddenly feels like he can’t breathe, his lungs are constricting, there are so many bodies pressed too close to him, the blood rushing through his ears is deafening, and the hairband around his wrist feels like it's searing his skin and <em> he can’t breathe. </em></p><p> </p><p>Noya unclenches his fingers from the front of Suga’s shirt, turning away from the soft, worried look Suga gives him. Before anyone can say anything, Nishinoya is scrambling over the table and dashing through the front door, tears leaving scorching trails down his cheeks. </p><p> </p><p>He runs straight to the ladder they have leaning against the wall to get to the roof and climbs it two rungs at a time. He stumbles to his favorite hiding spot behind one of the vents and collapses to the ground. Choking with sobs he pulls his knees to his chest and buries his head between his arms. </p><p> </p><p>He feels like he’s suffocating like the entire world is collapsing in on him and he can’t do anything about it. He can’t do anything but watch as everything he’s ever loved turns to ashes in his hands, as that walking corpse sunk its teeth into Asahi’s leg. He can do nothing but scream as Asahi falls. He has nothing but tears to try to stop the sickening black infection from spreading across Asahi’s skin. All he can offer are empty excuses as Asahi pushes the cool metal of the pistol into his hands and tells him how much he loves him. Nothing but beg as Asahi tells him it’s going to be okay.</p><p> </p><p>“You lied!” He screams to the sky, his vision blurred by tears. “It’s not okay, Asahi! <em> I’m </em> not okay!” His chest heaves as he desperately tries to breathe through the squeezing feeling in his lungs. “You left me and nothing is okay anymore!” He chokes and chokes and <em> he still can’t breathe. </em></p><p> </p><p>For what feels like hours, Nishinoya sobs, screams at nothing and begs for a man who can’t answer. This is far from the first breakdown he’s had since Asahi’s death and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. But he thought it would get easier, he thought it wouldn't hurt <em>so </em>much. But every time it felt like his heart was being torn from his chest. He would cry and choke on air and shake just as much as he did three months ago standing over the only person who's ever really known all of him, holding a gun to his forehead. </p><p> </p><p>So lost is he in the memories of Asahi’s last smiling face that has been scorched brutally beneath his eyelids that he doesn’t even notice someone else on the roof until there’s suddenly a warm hand on his shoulder. He lifts his head slowly to see Suga, crouched in front of him with a small broken smile on his face. Nishinoya wants to scream at him, punch him and tell him how much of an idiot he is. How careless he is for even thinking about leaving Nishinoya too. How could he? How dare he make Nishinoya lose anyone else? Can't he see how fragile his smiles are and hear the hollow sound of his jokes? Has he not caught Nishinoya sobbing into late hours into the night? Doesn’t he know that Noya wouldn’t be able to survive losing anyone else?</p><p> </p><p>But before he can let all the spiteful, vitriolic words spill from his mouth he notices the red rings under Suga’s eyes, the tears trailing their way down pale cheeks, and he suddenly feels guilty for even thinking about saying those things to Suga. If it was Ryuu, he might have still said it, maybe even Daichi if he was feeling particularly cruel. But not to Suga. Not to the only person that knew Asahi like he did, that loved him nearly just as much. </p><p> </p><p>Nishinoya and Asahi had been fully, ridiculously in love. But Suga and Asahi were brothers, and they loved each other just as fiercely. </p><p> </p><p>With his anger vanishing Noya has nothing left in him but sadness and heartbreak and as soon as he starts falling forwards Suga’s arms open. He wraps Noya up in his embrace and the libero starts crying all over again. Suga doesn’t say anything over Noya’s whimpers and he doesn’t need to. Everything he could ever say is in every tear Noya feels falling onto his shoulder, in every shaky intake of breath Suga takes against his temple. </p><p> </p><p>So they just sit there, on the roof of a Denny’s at the end of the world, and clutch at each other as they long for a teammate, a friend, a lover, a brother, a soulmate who would never be again. </p><p> </p><p>Eventually, once Noya feels like he can finally breathe and Suga’s tears have dried, Suga pulls back to meet Nishinoya’s eyes with a guilty look. “Nishinoya,” He starts in a croaking voice. “I’m sorry. I should have realized how this would affect you. I’ve been so caught up these past few days with Oikawa and everything,” he shakes his head. “But I should have thought about how you were feeling, I should have been checking in with you, and then tonight I was so focused on myself I didn’t even think about why you were so angry.” His eyes are wide and full of regret. “I’m so sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya wipes his face on his sleeve. “You're right, you dick.” He teases in a watery mumble and Suga gives him a soft smile. "But I'm sorry too." He says firmly. “I was being stupid. I know that you can take care of yourself and I know that we need the truce.” He sighs. “I just...things are getting to me more recently.” He trails off and Suga nods in understanding.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s tomorrow, isn’t it?” Suga says softly. “Three months.” </p><p> </p><p>Noya nods. “I can’t believe it.” He breathes. “It feels like so much longer, and” he blinks against the pressure behind his eyes. “It feels just like yesterday I was giving him shit for being such a pussy.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga chokes out a surprised laugh. “I feel like I was just smacking him for being so mopey and melodramatic at the reunion.” Suga smiles off into the distance. “You know Daichi and I used to get so angry with him for trying to be dramatic about our senior year. I can’t even imagine what kind of over the top speech he would come up with for everything that’s going on now.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya laughs, soft and broken. “He would talk a lot about the solidarity of the Denny’s and how much we’ve all grown.” Noya feels his heart pang as he imagines Asahi’s deep voice. “But then he’d get all weepy every time someone left to go on a Costco run. Or he would have gotten attached to that raccoon Hinata brought back and want to keep it.” </p><p> </p><p>“And we would have let him because he would give us those puppy-dog eyes that shouldn’t work on a six-foot bearded man but somehow always did.”</p><p> </p><p>He and Suga share a smile at the memory of Asahi’s iconic begging look. Noya still feels a pressure on his chest. He still feels a little bit like breaking down and crying and screaming at the world for being unfair and why him. But knowing he’s not the only one that feels that way, knowing that Suga was there, missing him and mourning him just as much as Noya was made it just a little easier to breathe. </p><p> </p><p>They sit side by side for a while. Looking out over the parking lot of their shopping center, lost in memories. </p><p> </p><p>Nishinoya glances at Suga. “Soooo,” he starts slyly. “What’s the deal with you and Oikawa?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga groans. “Not you too. I’ve already had Daichi breathing down my neck about it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well you can’t blame us!” Noya protests. “Until a few days ago I was convinced you couldn’t hate anything! Except for maybe the Big Bang Theory.”</p><p> </p><p>“It was just so blatantly sexist and racist!” Suga argues. “How did it run for twelve seasons?! And don’t even get me started on Young Sheldon!”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, don’t try to change the subject!” Noya pokes him. “That may work on Daichi, but I’ve always seen through your act Suga.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga grins at him. “Mm. I never could get you to believe I was your calm and responsible senpai.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya laughs as he thinks back to his high school days when Ryuu would be shocked when Suga got in shouting matches with refs or subtly encouraged spats between Tsukkishima and Kageyama. “I don’t know how you had anyone fooled, Suga. You’ve always been just as much trouble as me and Ryuu, just better at not getting caught.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga held up his hands. “Guilty.” He sends Noya a wink. “That’s why you were my favorite.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya gasps and jumps up punching his fist in the air. “I told Ryuu! I knew I was mom’s favorite! Oh man, I have to go rub it in his face.” He turns to run back to the restaurant but after just a few steps he comes to a screeching halt and spins around to point an accusing finger at Suga. “Wait, a minute! You’re just trying to get me off topic again!” Suga sighs dramatically and Noya flops back down beside him.</p><p> </p><p>“And I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for you meddling libero.” Suga moans in a cartoon villain voice.</p><p> </p><p>Noya just crosses his arms and stares at his Vice-Captain expectantly.</p><p> </p><p>Suga groans. “Fine. Oikawa and I were roommates in college.” He explains and Noya leans forward on his palms. “You probably won’t be surprised that Oikawa is the least considerate roommate on the face of this planet.” Noya nods, he could imagine. “But I think he made it his own personal mission to piss me off as much as possible.” Suga’s face grows hard with annoyance at the memory of his old roommate. “So I made it mine to do the same and then it became kinda a competition I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya laughs. “Oh man, Oikawa should have known better than to get into a petty competition with you, Suga.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga playfully bumps his shoulder. “That hurts Noya, treat your elders with some respect!” Noya sticks out his tongue and Suga does the same. </p><p> </p><p>“Is that it then?” Noya questions. “You seem to hate him a lot for someone who was just an annoying roommate.”</p><p> </p><p>The playful smile drops off Suga's face and he breaks eye contact to stare at the ground. “No that’s not it.” he hesitantly says and Nishinoya suddenly feels guilty for pushing Suga to talk if he didn’t want to. But Suga goes on before he could apologize. “At some point, I’m not even sure how, we became friends I guess? We at least didn’t want to kill each other anymore.” Suga shrugs. “And we just kinda agreed that we’d be roommates again without ever talking about it.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya gives him an incredulous look. “After all he put you through you wanted to live with him for another year?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga tilts his head. “I’ll admit looking back now I have no idea why I ever agreed to it. I think I was worried that my next roommate would be even worse. Oikawa may have been terrible, but at least I had figured out how to deal with him, and we’d come to a sort of mutual understanding with each other.” He scratches absently at a spot on his cheek. “I figured I wouldn’t be spending much time at the apartment either, and at least we would have separate rooms.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya thinks back to his short-lived time at university. He and his freshman year roommate had got along fine but hadn’t really interacted all that much with each other. Noya got up early for practice and his roommate would always come back at weird hours of the night. When Noya asked he explained he was rushing a frat and Noya really hadn’t been interested in anything he said after that. Honestly, Noya doesn’t even know if he can remember the guy's name. He moved in with Ryuu as soon as he could and the insane times they had kinda overshadowed his comparatively boring first year. </p><p> </p><p>“And it was fine.” Suga continues. “Having our own rooms really solved a lot of the problems we had the year before, and once you get past his massive ego and awful personality he really isn’t that bad.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya snorts. “Wow, high praise Suga.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga laughs. “Trust me, that’s about the best compliment I can give him. If you told him I said it he’d probably look at you like you were insane.” He sighs and looks up at a passing cloud. (Noya thinks it kinda looks titties, he’ll have to tell Ryuu about it later.) “Anyways, I guess at that point we became actual friends and my parents had just sold our old house to go traveling so I didn’t have anywhere to go for winter break so he offered for me to go back to Napa with him.” </p><p> </p><p>Nishinoya let out a low whistle. “Ooooh, Napa. Fancy.” Suga is avoiding eye contact and Nishinoya pauses. Thinks, and “Hey! Wait a minute!” Suga sighs knowing he’s been caught as Noya points an accusing finger at him. “You told us that you were in Berkeley doing research that winter! You said that’s why you weren’t in Stockton!” Nishinoya is scandalized, betrayed, outraged at this deceit. “We sent you Christmas cookies cause we felt bad for you!”</p><p> </p><p>Suga rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, I may have lied about that. But how was I supposed to tell you guys I was spending the break at Chateau Oikawa?? Can you even imagine what Kageyama would have done?!”</p><p> </p><p>Noya crosses his arms with a pout. He has to admit that’s a fair point. Kageyama probably would have thought Oikawa had kidnapped Suga and gone to Napa himself to rescue him. “Fine but you owe me some cookies.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga throws his head back and laughs. “Deal.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know Suga, none of this is really sounding like sworn enemies material.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga frowns, and he gazes off into the distance where Nishinoya thinks the ocean is. “Things changed.” he says simply, “He changed, and he made his own choices.” Suga hesitates, chewing nervously on the inside of his cheek. “I wasn’t part of those choices.” He shakes his head. “I didn’t want to be.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya eyes him curiously. There was a lot Suga wasn’t telling him. Actually, Noya didn’t think he could be vaguer. But this clearly was something Suga wasn’t ready to talk about it. Or maybe he would never want to talk about it. But if he did, Nishinoya would be here, ready to listen. But for now, he was just unbelievably glad to have Suga here beside him, trading stories from their past to try and distract from the present. </p><p> </p><p>Noya stretches his hand out to clasp Suga's shoulder. “Hey,” he says and Suga turns warily. “Fuck that twink,” he says <em> very </em>seriously.</p><p> </p><p>A surprised laugh falls from Suga's mouth and he playfully pushes Noya to the ground. “Oh my god, shut up.” He chuckles. With a smile, he stands up and offers a hand which Noya takes. “C’mon, we better get back inside. Tanaka was on the verge of tears when I came to find you. I think you may need to sleep in his bed tonight.”</p><p> </p><p>Noya grins and trots after Suga towards the ladder. “Well he’ll have to get in line, a lot of people want me in their bed Suga.”</p><p> </p><p>The two old teammates share a smile as they descend the ladder and walk back into their home. </p><p> </p><p>Noya absently wonders when he started thinking of a Denny’s diner as a home. Looking at Suga fondly roll his eyes as Ryuu and Hinata tackle him with hugs, Noya can’t bring himself to feel anything but grateful for it. </p><p><br/>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i can't believe i made myself so sad, im so sorry nishinoya i swear ur one of my favorites and i only give pain to the ones I love </p><p>Anyways my laptop screensaver was that shot of Noya and Suga high fiving for a while and ever since the Noya and Suga friendship has been of the utmost importance to me</p><p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as you could! I promise the next chapter will have much more action and a lot less tears</p><p>Come yell at me on tumblr tho! www.tumblr.com/blog/quintessentialsunshine</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Iwaizumi Hajime Is Pretty Sure This Is Cruel And Unusual Punishment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dinner and a Show (but the dinner is more like a doctors appointment)</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hello hello! im so sorry this chapter took longer than usual I just started a new job and online classes for Berkeley so I've been a little slammed recently</p><p>but here's the new chapter! hope u enjoy :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Iwaizumi wasn’t sure what was worse. The fact that he was essentially being held prisoner by Ushijima Wakatoshi, someone he genuinely thought he would never see again after his last year of high school. Or that he was being kept in an empty theater where Tendou Satori, another unwelcome ghost from the past, sat in front of the projector and made shadow stick puppet plays for him to watch.</p><p>It was one of the strangest but perhaps most effective forms of torture.</p><p>“But, Sir Tendou! How will you ever reach the Dark Castle,” Tendou cries in a shrill voice as he moves the puppet that looks vaguely like a princess. “The journey is dangerous! No one has ever made it back alive!!”</p><p>The figure that had sharp spikes vaguely resembling Tendou’s red hair laughs heartily. “Do not fear, fair maiden!” He says in his own manic voice. “For I do not make the journey alone! I am joined by the stoic giant Wakatoshi!”</p><p>A large, ominous puppet appears beside Tendou, and the actual Tendou lowers his voice dramatically as the puppet Wakatoshi speaks. “Yes, I am the great giant Wakatoshi. None can avoid my epic boulder throws.” A grunt of effort is made by the puppet and a crumpled piece of paper suddenly hits Iwaizumi in the back of his head. He whips around to glare at up at the projector booth where Tendou, the real Tendou, just smirks at him and whispers loudly, “Don’t interrupt the show!”</p><p>Iwaizumi groans and turns back to the screen. Maybe those zombies really did kill him and this was hell.</p><p>“Very impressive,” the princess coos to Wakatoshi.</p><p>“And I shall be atop my mighty steed! Magic Unicorn Semi! The shadow of a horse with a horn appears on the screen. “Speak, Magic Unicorn Semi!”</p><p>The unicorn just neighs.</p><p>Puppet Tendou hums. “Ah yes, I forgot he doesn’t talk.”</p><p>“What makes him. magic then?” the princess asks.</p><p>“Um, have you seen his mane? It must take magic for it to look that good!”</p><p>Tendou hit a button on the sound board and the “ba dum tss” sound rang through the theater.</p><p>Iwaizumi crosses his arms and absolutely refuses to laugh.</p><p>“Ugh, tough crowd.” Tendou complains. “But the story must go on!”</p><p>What follows is nearly an hour of nearly incomprehensible plot lines and strange challenges the hero's face on the way to the Dark Castle where they finally face a villain that Iwaizumi is pretty sure is also Tendou just with a giant shadow mustache. The villain is defeated but not before delivering a devastating blow to Magic Unicorn Semi.</p><p>“Magic Unicorn Semi!” Sir Tendou cries as he runs (well Tendou just moves the stick really quickly) over to his fallen friend. “No! You can’t die, we have to go back to see the princess!”</p><p>Giant Wakatoshi nods, too broken up for words.</p><p>The shadow unicorn shakily stands. “You have to go on without me, but I will always be with you in spirit my friends.” The unicorn makes what Iwaizumi can only describe as dying noises as his puppet falls out of sight.</p><p>“He talked.” Wakatoshi said sadly. “He really was magic afterall.”</p><p>Iwaizumi chokes back his tears. “He was magic the whole time.” he murmurs sadly as he wipes his face on his sleeve. What? He had gotten attached to the unicorn character, sue him.</p><p>Before the story can continue the great Giant Wakatoshi—Iwaizumi shakes his head—Ushiwaka walks into the theater. “Iwaizumi,” he nods at Iwa who just crosses his arms and looks away. “Tendou,” he shouts up to the projector booth. “That’s enough”</p><p>Tendou, who had been using his finger to make it look like Ushiwaka’s real shadow had a massive boner, pouts. “Ugh and we were just getting to the best part too.” he mutters before disappearing from sight.</p><p>Ushiwaka turns his attention back to Iwaizumi. “We have brought someone here that will assist you with your arm.” He nods towards Iwa’s shattered left arm, which was currently wrapped in a sling. Iwa glances down at it and winces, it was still swollen and bruised and twisted at odd angles. He knows he really needed it treated sooner than this but he would take what he could get.</p><p>“Bout time,” He grunts as he straightens in his seat.</p><p>Ushiwaka nods to someone in the hallway and after a moment Semi is walking in with someone definitely not from Shiratorizawa trailing behind him. It takes a good forty seconds for Iwa to register and then piece together the silver hair, the pale skin, the beauty mark under the left eye, the wide amber eyes that looked as shocked as he probably did.</p><p>Iwa gapes for a minute, and Suga gapes right back.</p><p>“Sugawara??” He finally gets out.</p><p>This seems to shatter whatever trance Suga was in cause his face floods with relief and he brushes past Semi to come wrap him in a tight hug. He does his best to hug his old friend back with one arm while biting back a wince of pain where Suga presses against his injured arm.</p><p>“Iwaizumi,” He breathes as he pulls back, keeping his hands on either of Iwa’s shoulders. “I’m so glad to see you, I’ve been so worried.”</p><p>Iwa quirks a brow. He was? “It’s good to see you too, Sugawara.” he says hesitantly.</p><p>Listen, he was glad to see that Sugawara was still alive and everything too but they hadn’t seen each other in what? Four years? Maybe even five? As much as it is nice to see him now he hasn’t exactly been at the forefront of his worries the past six months. But Suga made it seem like he had been thinking about him just before he walked into the room. Which either meant Iwa was just a really shitty friend (former friend? Iwa’s not really sure how to classify a friendship that ended because his best friend is a massive dick) or it meant something had happened to Suga recently that reminded him of their time together.</p><p>Maybe Shriatowizawa told him who he would be treating? No, that had been genuine shock on Suga’s face when he came in, and the naked relief on his face seemed too raw, much more like Suga was worried he was dead than he was worried what horrible things Tendou Satori has been doing to him.</p><p>A sharp gasp from Suga pulls his attention back to the present. Suga is looking over his arm in slight horror. “How long has it been broken?” He asks.</p><p>Iwa thinks back to the warehouse where he had stowed away at the top of a shelf for hours until one particularly beefy zombie managed to tip the structure over, sending him tumbling down ten feet to land right on his arm which he then had to try to use to beat back the horde of zombies until Tendou sliced an entire row of zombies in half right in front of him and he was “saved” by his former rivals.</p><p>“Two days ago?”</p><p>Suga nods and gingerly tries to move it from the sling as Iwa hisses in pain. He offers him an apologetic look before turning to glare at Ushiwaka. “I asked you yesterday if the patient needed immediate attention, a broken arm definitely requires immediate attention.” Iwaizumi had nearly forgotten how much balls Suga had, as he dressed down the towering, fully armed, Ushiwaka equipped with nothing but a lab coat and a stethoscope. “Why didn’t you bring him to me sooner?”</p><p>Ushiwaka frowns, seeming a little put off but luckily for him Tendou had made his way down from the booth to hang off of his captain’s shoulder. “We wanted to try and find Oikawa first, Doctor.” He swings and Iwa grits his teeth.</p><p>He didn’t mean to tell them about Oikawa. Okay, well he guess he kinda did. He had just been so frantic and running on pure adrenaline when Shiratowizawa rescued him. He had desperately asked if they had seen Oikawa. It seemed logical at the time, these guys were clearly well equipped and knew their way around the area, it seemed if anyone knew where Oikawa was it would be them.</p><p>Well, they didn't, it turned out. Also turns out they're kinda evil. He thinks. Though he may just be imposing some of their old rivalry onto their current actions. They were certainly shady that was for sure. No one had military grade weaponry in the apocalypse without some blood or dirt on your hands. Plus they lived in a darkly lit and frankly terrifying movie theater that still smelled like greasy popcorn. That was definitely villain material right there.</p><p>But Iwa had only discovered this after he became their captive, and apparently Shiratorizawa had been searching for Oikawa ever since.</p><p>Iwa really doesn’t think it's because they want to see two childhood friends reunited.</p><p>“We wanted to make sure you weren’t,” he takes a deliberate pause as his beady eyes look Suga up and down, “hiding anything from us, Suga.”</p><p>Suga doesn’t even flinch and Iwa is starting to remember why he liked him so much. “Well we aren’t, and even if we were that’s no excuse to leave someone with a broken arm for two days!” he says firmly. “It could have gotten infected and he could have lost his entire arm!”</p><p>Iwa pales and audibly gulps. He hadn’t thought he could lose his arm. Oh god, now it's all he can think about. Gee thanks, Suga.</p><p>Sensing his worry Suga turns to him and quickly offers a soothing smile. “But you won’t!” he assures quickly. “It’s not infected! It just needs to be set and it will heal fine.”</p><p>“Thank god.” He sighs in relief. “What would have happened to my volleyball career?”</p><p>He shares a grin with Suga as Ushiwaka tilts his head. “Unfortunately, I think your career would have already been significantly impacted by the zombie apocalypse, Iwaizumi.”</p><p>Tendou giggles and Semi facepalms. “Just ignore him.” Semi sighs. “Can you fix the arm, Suga? Do you have all the right stuff? I can run back to Denny’s if you need anything?”</p><p>Iwa had always thought Semi was much more reasonable than the rest of his team.</p><p>“No, I should have everything here. Thank you, Semi.” He says dismissively as he reaches into the duffle bag he had brought with him. Though Suga’s tone was obviously suggesting they be left alone the other three don’t move. Suga and Iwa share a wary glance and Tendou cackles.</p><p>“What you thought we were gonna leave you alone?” He rolls his eyes. “That's like the most obvious mistake all super villains make. Never leave your captors alone, they always conspire against you when you do”</p><p>Ha! He knew they were villains.</p><p>“Hey! We’re not the villains!” Semi protests.</p><p>Tendou just shrugs. “Maybe not to us.”</p><p>Silence falls over the room and Suga huffs, annoyed, before turning back to Iwa. “I’m sorry this is probably gonna hurt.” He apologizes before sliding the sling off his arm as gently as he can.</p><p>It still hurts, like a lot. But Iwa tries his best to grit his teeth and bear it. Suga murmurs numerous apologies under his breath as he does his best to gently examine his arm. “Looks like you fractured your ulna here and here,” he indicates the two places where his arm is bent at nauseating angles.</p><p>“Wow thanks, Doc. I had no idea.” He huffs and Suga smiles at him before turning to his bag and pulling out two wooden sticks and what looked like a long fingerless glove made from the same stuff as bandages.</p><p>“Okay, I’m going to have to set the bone by hand.” he explains gently, “And then I’ll put the stockinette on,” he holds up the white glove for Iwa to see. “And then I’ll splint it and bandage it. I don;t have any plaster so that’s unfortunately gonna be the best I can do. You’ll have to keep it in that sling for a while.”</p><p>Iwa nods. “You’ve become quite the doctor, Sugawara.” He says honestly. He remembered Suga going on and on about his dream of one day going to medical school and eventually becoming a surgeon that could save peoples lives. He’s glad that he was able to achieve his dreams, even if they were cut short by all this bullshit.</p><p>Suga laughs gently. “Thank you. Though I’m technically four years of residency short from my actual doctorate.”</p><p>“Well it’s a whole lot more useful than my business degree.”</p><p>Suga snorts. “I guess that’s true. I did warn you that we would defeat capitalism, so I told you so I guess?”</p><p>Iwa groans. “Okay, Berkeley. Can we get less judgement and more arm fixing please?”</p><p>Suga nods, reaching back into his bag for a roll of bandages and a bottle of whiskey.</p><p>Iwa raises a brow. “Now we’re talking.”</p><p>Suga looks apologetic. “If we were at a hospital we would pump you full of painkillers before doing this but well…” he trails off.</p><p>“We’re in a shitty movie theater during the zombie apocalypse with the douchiest volleyball team in the bay standing over our shoulder with machine guns?” Iwa supplies.</p><p>“Do you hear that, Semi?” Tendou whispers gleefully. “We were the douchiest team in the whole bay, what an honor.”</p><p>Suga chuckles. “Yeah, exactly what you said.” He pops the lid off the bottle of whiskey and offers it to Iwaizumi. “So here’s the most I can offer to numb the pain.”</p><p>Iwa shrugs. “Better than nothing.” He throws his head back to take a long pull of whiskey that burns harsh and hot down his throat. He hands the bottle back to Suga with a cough.</p><p>“What happened, Iwaizumi?” Suga teases as he takes the bottle back. “I remember you being able to drink anyone under the table.”</p><p>Iwa huffs. “Yeah, well not a lot of time for drinking in the--aH!” he cuts off with a harsh gasp as Suga grabs his arm and snaps his ulna back into place without warning.</p><p>“Sorry, it’s better if you're distracted.”</p><p>Iwa nods but can’t get out any words. His arm feels like it’s on fire with the searing pain pulsing from his forearm through his entire body, making his head feel dizzy from the pain.</p><p>Again, with no notice, Suga snaps the other fracture back into place and Iwa chokes back a shout of pain. Tendou is grinning maniacally and he hates giving him any satisfaction with sounds of pain but even he is human.</p><p>“Okay, now the stockinette.” Suga explains as he slides the glove over Iwa’s arm. Iwa grips the armrest of his movie theater seat in a white hot grip, it felt like Suga was dragging nails over his swollen skin rather than a bandaged glove.</p><p>Suga keeps his broken arm carefully balanced with his left hand as he grabs the splints with the other. “Semi,” he calls and Semi’s slightly nauseous face snaps towards him. “I’m gonna need you to help me hold the splints while I wrap the bandage.” Semi hesitates, glancing at Ushiwaka and Tendou for a moment. Suga turns over his shoulder to glare at him. “Now, Semi!” he snaps and Semi jumps before quickly moving over to Suga and kneeling beside him. Even Ushiwaka and Tendou took a step forward to help when Suga snapped.</p><p>Even through the pain Iwa feels a swell of pride for his old friend. Man, Suga was pretty badass.</p><p>Suga sets the splints around the broken ulna and instructs Semi to hold them in place as he grabs the bandages and starts winding it around Iwa’s arm. Suga works quickly and efficiently and not even a minute later Suga is tearing the end of the bandage and taping it down on Iwa’s arm.</p><p>He nods slightly to Semi who seems very relieved to scurry back to his teammates and be far away from Iwa’s swollen and disgustingly discolored arm.</p><p>Grabbing the discarded sling Suga stands to slip it over his head and slide his arm into the fold. Once Iwa’s arm is secured tightly against his chest Suga nods, satisfied with his work. “Okay, it's going to take six to eight weeks to heal, maybe more since it wasn’t treated right away.” Suga adds with a venomous glare at Ushiwaka. “Obviously don’t try to use it, don’t put any pressure on it, sleep on your back to keep from lying on it, and keep it from getting wet.”</p><p>Iwa nods. “And where’s my lollipop?”</p><p>Suga laughs. “I’m afraid we’re all out, but!” He reaches into the front pocket of his lab coat. “I do have a sticker!” He proudly brandishes a green square with Spongebob Squarepants winking and shooting finger guns with the caption: “Not Lame!”</p><p>Iwa chuckles as he takes the sticker. “Thanks, Doc. This makes all the unbearable pain worth it.”</p><p>Suga grins and opens his mouth to say something but before he can Ushiwaka is putting a hand on his arm. Suga and Iwa both tense and Iwa really wishes he had his baseball bat.</p><p>“Thank you for your help, Sugawara.” He drones. “Semi will take you back to Denny’s now.”</p><p>Semi steps forward and gestures for Suga to come with him. Suga glances regretfully at Iwa before nodding. “Okay, okay.” he leans down to scoop up his supplies and bag. He gives Ushiwaka a steely look. “I’ll need to come back in a few days to make sure it’s healing right.” His tone leaves no room for disagreement and Ushiwaka nods.</p><p>“Very well.”</p><p>Suga turns back to Iwa with a strained smile. “It was good to see you Iwaizumi, sorry about the pain again. Next time I’ll bring a bottle of Blue Castle Merlot.” His eyes stare deep into Iwa’s as he says this, willing him to understand something unspoken. Iwa’s eyes widen, and he gives Suga an almost imperceptible nod.</p><p>Some of the tension drains from Suga’s face and he winks as he turns to Semi. “Okay, let’s go. I don’t wanna miss dinner.”</p><p>Semi lights up as they walk towards the exit. “Oh man, are you guys having fried chicken again? Can I get a to-go box?”</p><p>“I’ll see what I can do.” And then both silver setters are out of sight and Iwa is left alone with Ushiwaka and the Guess Monster.</p><p>Ushiwaka eyes him for a moment, face as emotionless as ever. “We will check on you in a few hours.” With that Ushiwaka turns and leaves the same way Semi and Suga just had.</p><p>Tendou watches him before turning to Iwa with a manic grin. “The story continues!” he cheers as he runs up the stairs to climb back into the projector booth.</p><p>Iwa isn’t able to focus on how the story of Sir Tendou ends though. His mind is reeling with Suga’s last words. Blue Castle was the name of the wine that came from the Oikawa’s vineyards. It was the wine they spent all winter drinking all those years ago. That and the fact that Suga had apparently just been thinking of him.</p><p>Iwa inhales sharply as his mind makes the connection like two magnets suddenly snapping together.</p><p>Oikawa.</p><p>Oikawa is alive and he’s with Suga. They’ve been looking for him while Shiratowizawa looks for Oikawa, and Shiratowizawa doesn't know.</p><p>For a minute Iwa is just numb with relief that Oikawa is still alive. The situation had been dire when they got separated, and Iwa only got out because of Shiratorizawa. But Oikawa had made it too, he was alive and safe.</p><p>…..with Suga.</p><p>A grin slowly starts creeping over his face as he processes this revelation. Oikawa was with Suga. Insanely badass Suga who was the only person to ever rival Iwaizumi himself in taking Oikawa down a notch. Suga, who Oikawa had severely pissed off last time they were together.</p><p>Iwa can’t help it. A chuckle escapes from his mouth. Oh my god, Oikawa was stuck with Suga. Someone he probably thought he would never see again and now he was probably getting his ass handed to him on the daily.</p><p>Iwa’s laughter grows as he pictures Oikawa’s pouting face and before long he’s clutching his stomach doubled over in laughter.</p><p>Karma is a wonderful thing.</p><p>Up in the projector booth, Tendou preens. “I knew the show was good! I should really write the screenplay, maybe I can get Netflix to pick it up…”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>man i love tendou he's like the most fun to write</p><p>i also spent so long researching how to fix broken arms, if I ever hear the word stockinette again I may loose it </p><p>Blue Castle is the English translation of Seijoh so that why the Oikawa wine is called that</p><p>I hope I caught yall off guard with the pov in this one, I was very excited to get it out</p><p>also u may thank me for not killing Iwa now, please please one at a time </p><p>lol anyways thanks as always for reading and let me know what you think!</p><p>I will hopefully get the next update out by thursday</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Oikawa Tooru Reflects on the Past</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Gather around kids, it's the story of Suga and Oikawa's college days!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this chapter is literally a third of the length of the entire story what am I doing</p><p>anyways this one is a little different! the larger chapter is from Oikawa's pov but the flashbacks alternate between suga and oikawa cause I wrote them first lol</p><p>anyways there's notes about all the bay area stuff I mention at the end</p><p>but otherwise enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> tap tap tap </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa drums his fingers against the surface of the dining table. He’s resting his chin in the palm of his other hand, staring out the half-circle window at nothing in particular. Though his eyes do keep darting to the movie theater across the way. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> tap tap tap </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He wasn’t worried. Why would he be worried? Suga is going to be fine, he's just going alone to see Ushiwaka and his goons. Who had apparently traded volleyballs for machine guns and fucking <em> katanas.</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em> tap tap tap </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The libero who made such a scene yesterday is passing near the front door and Oikawa can hear his anxious footsteps from here. It’s kinda driving him insane but he can’t find the cruelty in him to snap at Nishinoya. </p><p> </p><p>After he had stormed out yesterday Kuroo explained to him that Nishinoya had recently lost someone. The ace with the man bun from Karasuno. Oikawa remembered him. The imposing figure that couldn't possibly be a high school but would get skittish at the smallest things. The one that always broke through their blockers. The third-year that had stumbled forward to grasp at Sawamura and Suga when Karasuno beat Shiratorizawa their senior year. </p><p> </p><p>It made him think of Iwa, of if he was even alive. He couldn’t fall asleep last night because of the knot of worry in his stomach that kept him on the brink of vomiting all night. </p><p> </p><p>Right now it made him think about Suga. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> tap tap tap </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Not that Suga is going to die. He’s completely fine. Everyone is making such a big deal over literally nothing. He’s not worried. </p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t even <em>like </em>Sugawara. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> tap tap tap </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He can feel Kuroo’s knowing gaze from where he’s leaning against the wall a few feet away. Oikawa refuses to acknowledge him. If he snaps at him like he so desperately wants to he’ll just have to watch Kuroo get that satisfied smirk and puff up like he just solved a mystery that stumped Sherlock. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa rolls his eyes. Though Kuroo can’t see it cause Oikawa still turned towards the window, staring at the tall old-fashioned movie theater sign that probably once lit up in brilliant neon but now just remained old rusting lettering. </p><p> </p><p>Frozen II. Heh. It was a pretty good joke.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> tap tap tap </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Really, how long does it take to do doctor stuff? Surely it’s not this long. He’s not worried. He’s just annoyed he’ll have to sit in this tense atmosphere for so long. Could Mr. Refreshing not hurry it up? </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> tap tap tap tap </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Okay but Kuroo had mentioned that they had had close calls with them in the past and it was only this flimsy “truce” that was keeping the peace. Oikawa still wasn’t even sure what the terms of the truce were besides that Suga is apparently the only thing this shitty restaurant has to offer. </p><p> </p><p>Plus, why did Frozen II have such heavy weaponry? Is a belt of grenades seriously necessary?</p><p> </p><p>He pictures Semi setting a grenade that blows up in Ushiwaka’s dumb face and he snorts.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> tap tap tap tap tap  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Suga never knew when to keep his mouth shut either. It was one of the few things they had in common and got in plenty of trouble for in the past. What if he said something to piss them off? What if it’s a trap? What if Tendou decides just to shishkebab him for kicks? What if Oikawa keeps staring at the window, Nishinoya keeps pacing, and Kuroo keeps thinking he’s the greatest genius to ever live forever cause Suga isn’t coming back?</p><p> </p><p>No, no. That's ridiculous. He <em>is not </em>worried. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> tap tap tap tap tap tap  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Especially because he is the reason Suga isn’t coming back. Ushiwaka is looking for <em>him, not </em> Suga.</p><p> </p><p>Because Suga lied for him. Suga smiled and lied down the barrel of a gun <em>for him</em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> tap tap tap tap tap tap tap </em>
</p><p> </p><p>And now Suga wasn’t coming back and it felt just like junior year of college and he’s not worried but he kinda feels like he’s suffocating and-- </p><p> </p><p>A gentle hand is suddenly wrapping around his fingers, halting his tapping that had grown into a frenzied pace. Oikawa blinks and slowly looks up to see Karasuno’s blonde manager looking at him in concern.</p><p> </p><p>When he raises an eyebrow at her hand still on his she squeaks and jumps away. “Sorry!” she stutters, “I just was coming by to see if you wanted something to drink and you didn’t respond and I tap my fingers like that  when I’m having anxiety too so I thought maybe I should stop it before you started having a panic attack or something but I guess I didn’t really think through what I would do after that so I just kinda grabbed your hand and I’m really sorry please don’t kill me!” </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa doesn’t know how she manages to say all that in one breath but she does. “It’s fine,” he waves a hand dismissively and the poor girl finally stops quivering. “I’m not panicking though, I’m just sitting here.” He says tersely. </p><p> </p><p>The girl blinks rapidly at him a couple of times. “Oh,” she mutters. She seems to have an internal debate before she nervously speaks up again. “I guess you won’t mind if I sit you with you then?” She says in rush, sliding into the booth before he can say anything. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa has to bite back a groan. Why was everyone from Karasuno so intent on sticking their noses in other people's business? It’s like it was part of the curriculum there.  </p><p> </p><p>“Go right ahead,” Oikawa before turning back to the window. He can’t stop her from sitting here but he certainly doesn’t have to acknowledge her. </p><p> </p><p>But it's only about two minutes later that he can’t stand the nervous energy basically exhuming from the girl’s very being, and he turns with a sigh to look her over. She flushes when he catches her staring but doesn’t break eye contact. </p><p> </p><p>“Can I help you?” he asks, probably a little rudely.</p><p> </p><p>She makes a nervous tittering sound that reminds Oikawa of a small dog. “Um,” she starts, “Can I, um, ask you a question?” </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa tilts his head in interest. “I suppose.”</p><p> </p><p>She straightens, probably a little surprised that Oikawa said yes. “O-Oh, great! Thank you!” She wrings her hands for a while. “You and Suga,” she starts and Oikawa starts to wonder if Kuroo put her up to this. “You were roommates in college, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa takes a moment to glance at where Kuroo is leaning against the wall. Despite his suspicions, Kuroo is looking at Yachi with shock and a little bit of pride. Hm. So she was acting on her own. </p><p> </p><p>He settles on nodding and she seems encouraged by his continued compliance.</p><p> </p><p>“What was Suga like in college?” she asks, excitement starting to creep into her voice. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa blinks. That had not been the question he had been expecting. He had been braced for “Why do you hate each other?” or “What did you do to Suga?” or “How dare you ever hurt our precious Suga, don’t you know the sun shines out of his ass?”. Okay, maybe the last one was a bit exaggerated. But a question about what Suga was like in their college days was definitely not where he thought this was going. </p><p> </p><p>Reading his surprise as annoyance, Yachi quickly starts stuttering out apologies. “Ah! I’m sorry is that too personal? Oh god, you probably think I’m some kinda stalker, don’t you? I’m not, I swear!” She tugs at her single pigtail. “Nghh, but that’s exactly what a stalker would say! I just was curious cause Suga never really talked about his time at Berkeley but we always wondered! We actually thought he was actually a CIA agent or something and couldn’t tell us.” she giggles. </p><p> </p><p>Shrimpy had said something along the same lines too. Suga never mentioned him to his old team. Apparently hardly ever talked about his college years at all. Oikawa tries not to be offended but he can’t really help it. He wasn’t expecting Suga to be singing his praises or anything but to not even acknowledge his existence? He can’t deny that he’s offended but he remotely ignores the hurt that stings somewhere deep within him. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa feels a white-hot fury rise in his chest. How dare he? How dare he act like Oikawa was something to be embarrassed by? Like he was something he could just erase from his life! How could he act so sweet and caring and <em>refreshing </em>but then treat another person--his roommate for two years!--like he was nothing???</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa clenches his hands into fists. Fine then, Mr. Refreshing. If he didn’t want his old team to know about their time together then he would make sure to tell them every excruciating detail. If Suga wanted him to be his dirty little secret forever he had another thing coming.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa leans back against the booth, stretching his arms out along the back. “He didn’t mention me, huh?” he gives Yachi a lazy smirk and she shakes her head. Oikawa gives a humorless laugh. “Of course not. He wouldn’t want to make himself look bad in front of his underclassman would he?” He leans in towards Yachi like he’s about to reveal a secret. Kuroo not-so-subtly shuffles closer to hear. “I guess I should start at the beginning.”</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Berkeley: Freshman Year, August</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Suga is pinning pictures of his team to his wall when he hears the door open. He turns with a wide smile, excited to greet the person he would be sharing this room with for the next year. “Hey! I’m Sugawara--”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Mr. Refreshing???”  </em></p><p> </p><p>Suga’s well-rehearsed friendly roommate greeting suddenly flees from his mind and his smile morphs into a wide ‘o’ as he stares in shock. Standing in the doorway, two massive suitcases in either hand, dressed in what must be all designer (skintight jeans, a hand-knitted sweater, fucking <em> Gucci </em>sneakers, and Raybans on top of his head) is Oikawa Tooru. Like Aoba Johsai, the most frustrating opponent, ridiculously talented setter, and massive ego, Oikawa Tooru. </p><p> </p><p>They stare at each other blankly for a minute.</p><p> </p><p>“Why are you just standing in the doorway, dumbass? Go in!!” An annoyed voice growls from behind Oikawa who is suddenly being pushed into the room. Iwaizumi Hajime, Seijoh’s ace, walks into Suga’s dorm room and Suga reasons he must be dreaming. He pokes himself with one of the push pins. </p><p> </p><p>“Ow,” he mumbles, still staring at the two phantoms from his past standing in his dorm room. </p><p> </p><p>Iwaizumi turns towards him and his eyes light up with recognition. “Hey! You’re from Karasuno right?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga numbly nods and Iwa grins. “Ha! That’s hilarious, you hear that Shittykawa? Your roommate is from Karasuno!” He starts laughing. “Oh man. This is so good, I can’t wait to tell Matsu and Makki.” He whips out his phone and snaps a picture of the still gobsmacked Oikawa who finally turns away from Suga to glare at his friend at the sound of the shutter clicking. </p><p> </p><p>“Shut up, Iwa!”</p><p> </p><p>Iwaizumi only laughs harder, actually bending down to clutch his stomach. “Oh my god, I’m so glad your parents made me come to help you move in. This is amazing. The only thing better would be if it was someone from Shiratorizawa.” He stops laughing for just a moment to poke his head out of the dorm and shout down the hallway. “Hey! Anyone here from Shiratorizawa? I will pay you a hundred dollars to follow this asshole around for a week?” He pauses for a response but unsurprisingly none comes. He still chuckles anyway as he comes back into the room, looking extremely pleased as Oikawa pouts.</p><p> </p><p>He walks over to Suga and sticks his hand out. “I’d just like to say I am so sorry.” He says sincerely and Suga blinks before hesitantly shaking his hand. “I’m Iwazumi by the way, your Sugawara, right? I remember you from the Spring prelims, you're a good player.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks,” Suga says weakly. Oh my god, they were talking about volleyball. It was his first day in college and he was already being sucked back into this sport. Listen, he loved volleyball he really did. But high school was the end of his volleyball journey, and he was fine with that. He didn’t have the skill like Kageyama or the passion like Hinata. He would always cherish his time on the team as the greatest years of his life and he already had the train ticket back to Stockton booked for Karasuno’s first game but he was ready, excited, to move on. He was going to redefine himself in college, have less of his life centered around a sport, and more around medicine and his other passions. But instead, Oikawa Tooru was his roommate, and Suga’s pretty sure that the gym bag on his shoulder isn’t carrying textbooks. </p><p> </p><p>Great. </p><p> </p><p>Iwaizumi glances over his shoulder at Oikawa. “Well, don’t be a dick. Introduce yourself!” He chides like a mother talking to their disobedient child. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa glares at him before turning to Suga. “Hello, Mr. Refreshing.” </p><p> </p><p>He looks him up and down slowly and Suga can almost feel the other boy’s judgment as a physical force. Which makes Suga’s eye twitch in annoyance. He was absolutely not going to let this spoiled rich Napa boy look down on him. He wasn’t the poor kid from Stockton anymore. Suga had given up blood, sweat, and tears to get into this school and he was finally here. He worked just as hard as Oikawa if not harder, and here they both were. At Berkeley, they were on equal footing and Suga would make sure Oikawa knew that. </p><p> </p><p>“Oikawa.” He says simply. “That’s your dresser, I’m taking the bottom bunk.” </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa glares at him. Suga glares right back. </p><p> </p><p>Iwaizumi looks between them with amusement. “Well, this is gonna be interesting.”</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo lets out a harsh cackle and Oikawa jumps in surprise. He hadn’t even noticed Kuroo sitting down in the circle booth, lost in his retelling of his first day of school.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh man, I wish I could have been there to see that.” Kuroo sighs longingly. “You guys are so funny to watch now I can’t even imagine what you were like back then.”  On his other side, Yachi nods, looking like she was trying to picture it. Kuroo shakes his head with a grin. “Poor Suga, Baby Oikawa must have been such a pretentious dick.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa glares at him. “Excuse you, I’ll have you know it was <em> your </em>Mr. Refreshing that was the pretentious dick.”</p><p> </p><p>“I find that hard to believe.”</p><p> </p><p>The three of them turn to see Nishinoya, who had apparently finally halted his pacing and was standing with his arms crossed in front of the table. He was giving Oikawa a frigid glare and Oikawa rolled his eyes. He isn’t sure why this guy hates him so much but it’s pretty fucking annoying. </p><p> </p><p>“Well believe it, Shorty. Suga never respected roommate rules!”</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Berkeley: Freshman Year, November</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Suga scowls at the sock on the door to his dorm. </p><p> </p><p>He thinks about just walking in anyways but the thought of having to see Oikawa nude makes him gag. So instead he raises his fist, pounds on the door as loud as he can, and shouts: “Tooru, honey! I got the STD test back and I really need to talk to you!” </p><p> </p><p>With a satisfied smirk, he slides down the wall next to his door and sits to scroll through Twitter on his phone. Sure, enough it’s only a few minutes later that a tall rumpled blond boy is swinging the door open and stomping out of the room. </p><p> </p><p>“And don’t call me!” he shouts as he slams the door. He spots Suga on the floor and swallows. “What did he give you?” </p><p> </p><p>Suga smiles and stands with a lazy stretch. “A headache and murderous intentions” he hums as he unlocks the door, the guy stares at him in confusion and Suga gives him a sly look over his shoulder. “Oh and herpes.” He steps into the dorm and pushes the door shut behind him. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa is sitting on his bed in just his boxers, his hair mussed and what looks like a hickey already starting to form on his neck. He scowls when he sees Suga and crosses his arms over his chest. “Thanks for the blue balls, Mr. Refreshing.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga shrugs as he throws his messenger bag onto his desk. “No problem, roomie.” he chirps and pulls his laptop out of his bag. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa grits his teeth. “Do you know how long I had to snapchat that guy?” Oikawa pauses but Suga is absolutely not guessing. “A <em> week!” </em> Oikawa provides anyways. “An entire week of pretending to be interested in his <em> history </em>major and now I won’t even get my dick sucked!”</p><p> </p><p>Suga scrunches his nose. Gross, he really did not want to hear about Oikawa’s dick. “I told you I had a midterm tomorrow, if you actually listened to me you could have had all the sucking you liked a day where I didn’t need to sleep before midnight.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa rolls his eyes and flops backward onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Suga pulls up the document containing his biology notes with a sigh. It was going to be a long night.</p><p> </p><p>He moves to his dresser to pull off his shirt, rifling around for his favorite sweatshirt (The one with the Berkelium element on it) when he catches Oikawa staring at him from the corner of his eye. Sweatshirt in hand Suga turns to his roommate with his hands on his hips. “What?” he snaps when Oikawa continues to look at him with that gleam in his eye. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa gives him a sly grin. “Oh, I was just thinking.” He purrs and Suga quirks a brow. “Since you so rudely scared off my bedmate,” He pauses to stretch his arms up over his head in a lazy stretch that arches his back and pushes his hips suggestively up into the air. His hip bones make sharp outlines in his boxers and--</p><p> </p><p>Don’t look, Suga. Don’t look. That’s exactly what he wants you to do, don't let him win. </p><p> </p><p>“Maybe you could come pick up where he left off, Mr. Refreshing-” Oikawa finishes with a sultry wink.</p><p> </p><p>Suga crosses his arms, unimpressed. “Or,” he starts thoughtfully, tapping his finger to his chin. “I have a better idea, how about <em> you go fuck yourself</em>?” Suga takes only a second to relish how Oikawa’s cocky face morphs into an ugly annoyed thing before turning back to his desk, slipping his sweatshirt on, and sliding his headphones over his head. </p><p> </p><p>As he’s pulling up his study playlist Oikawa drones, “You are really the worst person I have ever met, Mr. Refreshing.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga snorts as he presses play. “Ditto.”</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>“And then I--oh my god can you three shut up?” Oikawa snaps at the hysterical Kuroo, Nishinoya, and Bokuto (when did Bokuto even get here??) who were all leaning on each other as they cackled. Yachi had turned a little red but even she was hiding a smile behind her hand. </p><p> </p><p>“Sounds like you were a piece of shit and Suga knew how to put you in your place!” Nishinoya laughs as he points a mocking finger at Oikawa. </p><p> </p><p>“I can’t believe I never thought to use the STD test thing,” Kuroo marvels. “I am giving Suga the biggest high-five ever when he gets back.” Bokuto nods in agreement and they start practicing said high-five over Nishinoya’s head.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa scowls, “Hey I more than held my own against Mr. Refreshing!”</p><p> </p><p>The entire table gives him a doubtful look.</p><p> </p><p>“I could tell you if you’d all let me speak!”</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Berkeley: Freshman Year, April </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Suga:</b>
</p><p> </p><p>I left some dinner for you in the mini-fridge, the dining hall didn’t have any meat last night so I put some beans in there</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Oikawa:</b>
</p><p> </p><p>thx i’ll be at cafe blue door at like 12 do you want me to order you a london fog?</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Suga:</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Yeah, my lecture ends at 12:30 so I’ll be there after</p><p> </p><p>Also make sure to get soy this time plz</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Oikawa:</b>
</p><p> </p><p>soy costs extra (￢_￢)</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Suga:</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Oh my god I’ll pay you for it</p><p> </p><p>…</p><p> </p><p>Did you just venmo request me 50 cents? Are you serious???</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Oikawa:</b>
</p><p> </p><p>i’m not paying for ur stupid soy milk mr. refreshing 凸(￣ヘ￣)</p><p> </p><p> also u didn’t take the trash out like u were supposed to so i’m pouring it on ur desk</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Suga:</b>
</p><p> </p><p>I’m so glad I spit in your dinner</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Oikawa:</b>
</p><p> </p><p>i’m so glad i had sex on your bed last week (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> *you have been blocked by the number you are trying to reach* </em>
</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>The silence at the table is deafening. </p><p> </p><p>The cackling trio all have their arms crossed and are shooting him vicious glares. Besides Yachi, who has her face twisted into a disappointed grimace that makes him feel a little like he kicked a puppy, Hinata is shaking his head. “That’s pretty mean, Oikawa.”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone nods. “Yeah, don’t you own a vineyard? Couldn’t shell out fifty cents for your roommate, rich boy?” Tanaka growls. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa looks around. When did the entire restaurant get here?</p><p> </p><p>“And sex on the roommate's bed? That's just like, cruel dude,” Bokuto adds. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa throws his hands into the air in exasperation. “Oh come on, it was a joke! Plus, don’t you guys think you’re being hypocritical right now?” </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t try to confuse us with big words!” Nishinoya snaps and Hinata nods in agreement. “I just can’t believe he agreed to be your roommate another year.”</p><p> </p><p>A collective gasp rises from the table and everyone, sans Oikawa, leans towards Nishinoya in interest. Nishinoya preens at having the gossip and Oikawa rolls his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, we lived in an apartment off-campus the next year.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wow,” Hinata wonders. “He moved into an apartment with the great king and none of us knew about it?”</p><p> </p><p>Bokuto suddenly slams his hand on the table before pointing an accusing finger. “I got it! You were like a sugar daddy right?” A collective groan of disgust rises from the table. “You paid for the apartment with your sweet napa money! And Suga probably had to do...um” Bokuto trails off, his face turning a little red. </p><p> </p><p>“Kinky things?” Kuroo offers. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes!” Bokuto shouts, clapping his friend on the back. “Kinky things! The bickering was probably part of it!”</p><p> </p><p>Several people around the table suddenly start nodding, thinking this might be starting to make sense actually. Oikawa wants to die. </p><p> </p><p>“Then there was the whole ‘I had sex on your bed’ text too.” Kenma suddenly adds.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone turns to him in surprise for just a moment (Oikawa didn’t even realize Kenma had been there, had he always been sitting in Kuroo’s lap?) before they all start nodding again and murmuring “That’s a good point” and “How much do you think he paid him?” and “wow that’s kinda hot”. </p><p> </p><p>(Oikawa absolutely does not want to know who said that thank you very much)</p><p> </p><p>“I was not his sugar daddy!” He shouts, and everyone turns to look at him doubtfully. </p><p> </p><p>“I think he’s being honest,” Nishonoya says and Oikawa arches a brow at him. He shrugs. “Suga and I talked, he said you were ‘friends’ sophomore year.” He says with finger quotes around the word friends.</p><p> </p><p>Hm. Friends. </p><p> </p><p>“I guess we couldn’t spend all our time fighting.” he thinks, “Plus being able to close my bedroom door in his face was really great for our relationship.” Nishinoya snorts. “But yes, we did spend more time together sophomore year.”</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Berkeley: Sophomore Year, September</b>
</p><p> </p><p>It was the fabled golden hour on Memorial Glade, where the sunset cast a brilliant orange glow over the deep green grass of the glade. The Campanile kept her watchful guard over the students as her white marble tower was dyed pastel oranges and pinks. The massive square windows of Doe Library flood with pale artificial light blending with the tangerine sunset and emphasizing the ephemeral liminality of this hour in this place.</p><p> </p><p>Suga is lying on his stomach on the grass, medical history textbook in his hands as his eyes trace the words of the page without really absorbing them. Oikawa is sprawled on his back beside him, headphones on, his eyes closed in a blissful enjoyment of the warm blanket of the sun.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, Oikawa is speaking. “The couple next to us is on their second or third date, tops.”</p><p> </p><p>Though Suga had been enjoying the soft noises of his school as he read, Oikawa’s voice didn’t shatter the peaceful air or even taint it. Rather his voice sounded more like honey that swirled effortlessly into the sweet tea air. </p><p> </p><p>Suga peaks over his books to glance at the couple Oikawa was talking about. They were lounging together on a blanket just a few feet away. The boy had lime green hair and is saying something to a freckled girl who seems to not really be listening but giving the impression that she was.</p><p> </p><p>“Nooo,” Suga hums as he studies them. “See that nod?” He gestures to the girl who was bobbing her head up and down at a steady pace, throwing in the well-timed hum in there too. “That’s a well-trained nod, a nod perfectly crafted through hours of having to listen to her boyfriend drone on and on.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa squints his eyes at the couple and hums doubtfully.</p><p> </p><p>The girl reaches out and laces her fingers with the guy. “See!” Suga whispers excitedly. “Hand holding they're totally dating! Holding hands on the first date is weird.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa frowns and nudges Suga’s side with his foot. “You just think that cause you have no capability to love, Mr.Refreshing”</p><p> </p><p>Suga rolls his eyes. They fall back into a marigold silence for a moment, Suga lying his head on his arms to watch the couple.</p><p> </p><p>Suga’s trying to tell what the boy is saying by reading his lips when suddenly the boy is reaching behind him into a bag Suga hadn’t seen before and he’s pulling out a—oh my god. </p><p> </p><p>Suga’s heart plummeted as the man took out an acoustic guitar with a self-satisfied grin and the girl let out an “oh” that she desperately tried to make sound more pleasantly surprised than horrified.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa is laughing behind him. “Oh my god, I told you so, Koushi!” He cheers and Suga buries his head in his arms. “She clearly doesn’t want to be sung too in front of all these people and he clearly thinks she’s gonna wanna sleep with him because he plays the guitar.” Suga lets out a whine but he can’t deny the facts. Oikawa continues his victory speech. “This might even be their first date! Poor thing,” he pushes himself up on his elbows. “Guys who bring their guitars to first dates are always douches.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga watches dejectedly as the boy winks at the girl before stunning a cord and singing, “I love you, bitchh” the girl and Suga both choke out a surprised laugh. “I ain’t ever gonna stop loving you, bitchhhhh”</p><p> </p><p>The girl laughs as she throws herself into the guy's arms shouting something that’s a little muffled but Suga makes out to be “I love you, too!”</p><p> </p><p>Suga turns to grin at Oikawa who was gaping at the couple. “You might be right, Tooru.” Suga shrugs. “But guys who quote vines to say I love you are definitely keepers.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa rolls his eyes but Suga sees the smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. </p><p> </p><p>“He’s a good one!” Oikawa shouts to the girl and Suga slaps his arm as he turns laughing to avoid the attention of the couple.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my god, shut up,” he giggles, grinning at his roommate. </p><p> </p><p>And Oikawa grins back.</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>“That’s nice,” Yachi says hopefully, and the others can’t seem to find a reason to disagree. </p><p> </p><p>“See? I wasn’t as unbearable as Mr. Refreshing seems to think. I even let him stay in my home for winter break!!”</p><p> </p><p>“What? Suga went to Napa??” Daichi asks incredulously, likely horrified that there was so much about his best friend that he didn’t know.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa smirks. It felt kinda good to know that there was a side to Sugawara that no one here had seen except him, he knew a part of him that even Sawamura didn’t know.</p><p> </p><p>“Yep, he spent an entire month at Chateau Oikawa.” He says smugly.</p><p> </p><p>Tanaka is scratching his bald head in concentration. “Wait, wasn’t that the winter where Suga told us he was working at a lab in Berkeley?” The rest of Karasuno pauses to think and Nishinoya sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Ryuu. He lied cause he was embarrassed to be spending his break at Chateau Crappykawa.” Oikawa almost wants to ask how he knows that nickname but Nishinoya goes on. “I already got him to promise to get us more cookies.” Tanaka and the rest of Karasuno nod, apparently appeased by this.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa clears his throat, annoyed at having lost the center of attention. “Excuse me, embarrassed? Mr. Refreshing has never had a more luxurious vacation in his life.”</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Napa: Sophomore Year, December </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa has finished an entire bottle of red on his own and is feeling pretty great. </p><p> </p><p>The three of them are out on the patio that overlooks the vineyards, the fire crackling in the middle as they all lounge on the outdoor sofas, afghan blankets thrown across their laps to fight back any of the winter chill not bested by the fire or the alcohol coursing through all of their veins. </p><p> </p><p>He and Iwa are snickering on the coach as Suga stands before the fire, dramatically retelling the story of how Hinata and Kageyama nearly got each other killed on a team trip to San Francisco. </p><p> </p><p>“And then Hinata said ‘I bet you can’t pet one of the Sea Lions’!” Suga raises his voice and bends down as he imitates Hinata. “And Kageyama said,” He brushes some of his silver hair into a point on his forehead and lowers his voice to be steely and monotone, “‘I bet you I can, idiot! And I bet you five meat buns that I can do it faster than you!’ and then, of course, Hinata agrees cause those two can never not be competing with each other.” Suga giggles and drunkenly wobbles on his feet. Oikawa finds he can’t look away from him, oddly entranced. </p><p> </p><p> “I can’t believe it took those two so long to figure out like 50% of that was sexual tension, they were <em>sooooo </em>obvious. I tried dropping hints all the time but nooooo Daichi told me to let them figure it out on their own. Well, that took them three years, Daichi! They could have been having awesome sex for three extra years and they would have thanked me for it.” He pauses in his rant and looks confused at Oikawa who feels a shock of electricity go through him when they make eye contact. “Wait, what was I talking about?”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa shrugs, he honestly can’t remember. He’s too busy staring at how the fire makes Suga’s hair glow to try to think.</p><p> </p><p>“Sea lions!” Iwa shouts over his wine glass and Suga gasps and claps his hands together.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes! The sea lions. So they both jump over the railing onto one of those floaty plank-thingys that the sea lions sit on?” Suga spreads his palm flat to demonstrate and Oikawa and Iwa nod. </p><p> </p><p>He’s so pretty, has he always been that pretty?</p><p> </p><p>“And of course the sea lions freak out! The ones on the plank jump into the water and all of them start barking at them.” Suga does his best imitation of a sea lion bark that has both him and Iwa gasping with laughter. Suga grins. “The best part was Kageyama started barking back! And of course, Hinata couldn’t let Kageyama out do him so he started barking, and then it was just ten minutes of these two idiots screaming at a hundred sea lions who were all screaming at back them before the Coast Guard came and got them off.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa’s drunk brain latches onto the innuendo. “Got them off? Kinky, Koushi.” </p><p> </p><p>It’s really not even a good joke. If they were sober Suga and Iwa would have probably just rolled their eyes. Iwa may have even smacked him for it. But right now both of them are wildly drunk and it must be nearly midnight and it’s the middle of December but the fire is warm and they’re twenty and have their entire lives ahead of them so they laugh like it’s the funniest thing they ever heard. Iwa spills wine all over his shirt that he will definitely be angry about in the morning and Suga stumbles back towards the couch as he tries to control his laughter. </p><p> </p><p>He collapses more onto Oikawa’s lap than the couch but Oikawa finds he really doesn’t mind. Koushi is warm and he’s giggling and the wine has turned his pale skin a pretty flushed pink that Oikawa suddenly is compelled to lick for some reason but even as inebriated as he is he knows that would probably be pretty weird. So instead he wraps his arms around the other boy and pulls him flush against his chest, nuzzling his face into Koushi’s neck as he shakes from giggles, and taking a deep breath of red wine, the night crisp air, the crackling fire, and <em> Koushi</em>. </p><p> </p><p>They stay like that for the rest of the night as the three of them trade stories and jokes until the cold finally forces them inside. None of them seem to find it strange, not even Iwa.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa doesn’t remember being able to see the stars much growing up here, but tonight he swears they shine brighter than he’s ever seen. But even then he finds that all he could look at that night were amber eyes that were more beautiful than any star could ever hope to be. </p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>“It was horseback riding in the day and drinking my family’s best wine at night,” Oikawa is aware he probably sounds a little pretentious but he doesn’t really care. “I can assure you, Mr. Refreshing enjoyed himself.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo grins and wiggles his eyebrows. “Oh ho ho, did he?” Oikawa realized he probably should have thought about how that sounds. “Sounds very romantic, doesn’t it, Bo?” He winks and elbows his friend in the side.</p><p> </p><p>Bokuto is completely oblivious to Kuroo’s suggestive tone but he’s looking at Oikawa with stars in his eyes anyway. “Yeah, it does.” He breathes. Oikawa shifts in his seat, feeling a little uncomfortable by how genuine Bokuto sounds. “Did you guys start going out then?”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa snorts.</p><p> </p><p>“He wishes.”  He and Nishinoya both say at the same time. They blink and glare murder at each other.</p><p> </p><p>Daichi shakes his head as he scratches his chin. “No, Sophomore year is when Suga started dating one of the Miya brothers.”</p><p> </p><p>Hinata nods. “Oh yeah! I forgot that Atsumu and Suga dated, they were cute!”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa crosses his arms. “Miya? Miya Atsumu? He mentioned <em> him </em>but he couldn’t mention the guys he lived with?” He pouts and ignores the scattered snickering. “Figures.”</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Berkeley: Sophomore Year, February  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa looks away as Miya Atsumu leans down to press his lips to Suga’s as he lingers in the doorway of his apartment. He is not pouting, thank you very much. He would just like that to be known to all. He is absolutely not sitting on the couch with his arms crossed and lips drawn into a childish pout picturing the many ways he could kill the Miya brother.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll see you tomorrow, baby.” Miya says to Suga and Oikawa feels his blood boil. Miya peaks over Suga’s head to smirk at Oikawa. “Always good to see you Oikawa!” He calls out. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s always a pain in my ass, Miya!” Oikawa snaps back and Suga tuts at them both. </p><p> </p><p>“You two are the cause of all my problems.” Suga sighs and Oikawa fumes just at being grouped with that bastard twin, especially in regards to Suga. “I’ll meet you outside Dwinelle?” he says sweetly and Oikawa can’t see it but he assumes Miya nods. </p><p> </p><p>It’s only once he finally hears the door click close does he let himself turn back to look at Suga who is leaning with his back against the door, smiling absently as his fingers trace his lips. Oikawa kinda wants to punch something, preferably Miya Atsumu’s face. </p><p> </p><p>Instead, he frowns at Suga and says in the most mocking tone he can muster. “<em> Baby?”  </em></p><p> </p><p>The dreamy smile quickly drops off Suga’s face and is replaced with the far more familiar scowl. “You could stand to be less rude, ya know.” He pushes off the door and moves into the kitchen. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m always a pleasure, just not when you bring your boy toy to the apartment.”</p><p> </p><p>“He’s my <em> boyfriend </em>.” Suga corrects, and something in Oikawa recoils at the word. “And if you can introduce me to anyone who says you’re a ‘pleasure’ I will take all your midterms.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa rolls his eyes, ignoring the latter part of what Suga said. “Well your <em>boyfriend</em>,” he spits out the word like it physically hurts to say. “Is a pretentious asshole who thinks he can just walk in and take the official setter position from me.” Oikawa is furious just thinking about Miya’s sly smiles and damn near perfect sets at the college team tryouts. </p><p> </p><p>(He had made the team because of course he had, and ever since has been not so subtly vying for the position of the official setter. Oikawa and he spent all of practice trading passive-aggressive remarks and “accidentally”  spiking the ball towards each other’s faces, and that was all before he and Suga started <em>dating</em>. Now he didn’t even try to hide the fact that he detested the other setter, and he aimed his spikes at his crotch instead of his face.)</p><p> </p><p>Suga tuts as he starts pulling various ingredients from the cupboards. One of the best parts of living with Suga was the baking. Suga apparently was quite the baker and had been devastated when their dorm building’s kitchen didn’t have an oven. He apparently was trying to make up for all the baked goods he never got to make last year and so their apartment was constantly filled with the smell of fresh cookies, cakes, pies, and even once macaroons that Oikawa has been begging Suga to make again to no avail.</p><p> </p><p>“I get that you have your childish competition with him, but honestly can’t you leave that in the gym? There’s no need to be so hostile when he’s just at the apartment.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa wants to point out that the competition was still very much on at the apartment, it was just a different prize they both were after, but that would reveal perhaps more than he was ready to explain to his roommate. (Also he thinks Suga would probably kill him for referring to him as a prize)</p><p> </p><p>So instead he just says, “There’s every need when he’s the literal worst.” He emphasizes, turning to lean over the back of the couch so he can give Suga a judging look. “Really Koushi, why are you dating him? He must have an enormous di--” </p><p> </p><p>Suga slams a metal bowl down on the table before Oikawa can finish his sentence. He takes an annoyed breath as he grips the edge of the counter so tight his knuckles turn white. “What is your problem?” he snaps, glaring at Oikawa. “He barely says a word to you when he’s here and he only ever comes over to walk me home! Trust me, I much prefer getting away from <em> you </em>and staying with him.” Oikawa winces and something in his chest pangs at the harsh words. “But, no! You still have to throw a fit when he’s here for two seconds! Why? Are you jealous?” </p><p> </p><p>Suga says the words sarcastically, throwing his hands up in the air as he says it. But as soon as the words are out of his mouth Oikawa's entire face turns red. He knows he should say something, argue back with him until they were both screaming at each other like usual. But that hadn’t happened in months had it? Oikawa can think of nothing to snap back at his roommate as he opens and closes his mouth uselessly, unable to deny Suga’s accusations as he sits there like an idiot and red as a cherry. </p><p> </p><p>Suga blinks when he doesn’t reply, turning to look at him with a strange expression. When he notices Oikawa’s red face his head tilts to the side and his mouth drops open in a small ‘o’. His amber eyes dart quickly over his face.  Oikawa feels like he’s being analyzed like he’s one of Suga’s patients, the doctor trying to piece together the symptoms to discover the ailment. </p><p> </p><p>Before he can though, Oikawa is springing from the couch and darting down the hallway to his room without a second glance at Suga. He slams the door behind him and drops on his bed to bury his burning face into his pillow. He lets out a low groan and for just a few minutes allows himself to wallow in mortification, hoping desperately that Suga hadn’t made a diagnosis for what Oikawa already knew was lovesickness. </p><p> </p><p>Once he feels suitably full of self-pity, he grabs his phone, calls Iwa, and proceeds to complain for the next two hours. </p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>“Sounds like you were jealous.” Kuroo cuts through his complaining and Oikawa flushes. He had explicitly left that part out of the story, but Kuroo figured it out anyway.</p><p> </p><p>“Please, what was there to be jealous about?” Oikawa waves a hand dismissively. “Suga broke up with him just a few weeks later anyway.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo’s eyebrows shoot up and Daichi leans forward in interest. “So you were glad when they broke up, hm?” Kuroo accuses and the entire table lets out an “oOoOO oOoOO '' that sounds like when a kid got called to the principal's office in elementary school. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa scowls. “I was just glad to not have to see Miya’s face outside of practice anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure, Oikawa. Whatever you gotta tell yourself .”</p><p> </p><p>“Um!” Yachi squeaks, eyes darting nervously between them. “Tell us another story, Oikawa?” She pleads. “Did you ever go to San Francisco? I used to love going into the city when we would have games there.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa sighs. “We did sometimes, but it was usually such a hassle to get there so it was only a couple of times.”</p><p> </p><p> =====================</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>San Francisco: Sophomore Year, April </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Suga laughs as he leans out of the trolley car, the crisp air flows through his hair and over his cheeks, staining them red. He feels free and happy and like he has his whole life ahead of him. Which as far as he knows, he does. </p><p> </p><p>Once his eyes start watering he pulls his head back in the car, using his sleeve to wipe away the tears. His day trip companion is sitting on the seat next to him staring grumpily down at a map in his hands. </p><p> </p><p>“If this is Embarcadero then we can get off at the next stop, no wait, what street is this?” He mutters as he fiddles with the map and Suga feels warm and giddy just looking at him.</p><p> </p><p>He had bet Oikawa that he couldn’t survive a day without his cell-phone and Oikawa had scoffed and immediately threw his phone out the window of the apartment. The boy would do anything to prove a point and now he was trying to navigate around the city without GPS, he also refused any help Suga offered. But Suga was content just to follow Oikawa wherever he took them, he loved getting lost in this city, discovering new places and new people and entire worlds within one street corner. </p><p> </p><p>Suga sits back down next to Oikawa, watching him with amusement. His leg tingles where it presses against Oikawa’s thigh and he bites his lip to stop from smiling like an idiot. “Soooo, where are we going next?” he teases.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa sends him a frigid look over the top of his map. “Ghirardelli Square,” he harrumphs. “It's the next stop.” He folds his arms, daring Suga to question him. </p><p> </p><p>Suga bites back a grin as he nods thoughtfully and leaning closer to him to pretend to look over the map. He hooks his chin on Oikawa’s shoulder. He doesn’t miss the way Oikawa’s breath stutters, just slightly, as he does it, nor can he ignore the butterflies furiously dancing around his stomach. </p><p> </p><p>“Ahhh,” he hums. “I didn’t know Ghirardelli was so close to the Ferry Building.”</p><p>l</p><p>“What the Ferry Building?” Oikawa questions, his head snapping to the window to see that, indeed, the trolly was approaching the white clocktower. Suga smirks and Oikawa groans and buries his head in his hands. </p><p> </p><p>Suga laughs, easy and light. “Hey c’mon, let’s just get off here. I love the Ferry Building!” Not waiting for Oikawa to stop wallowing in self-pity, Suga scrambles out of his seat and bounds over to the door, happily gripping the pole to lean out of the car and breath in the sea air. `As soon as the trolley comes to a stop he’s dashing towards the Ferry Building. Oikawa shouts and scrambles to keep after him. </p><p> </p><p>Suga pauses right before the entrance, craning his neck to stare up at the clocktower in glee. Oikawa steps up beside him, angrily trying to fold the map up and looking ready to scold him but before he can Suga is grabbing his hand and tugging him inside. </p><p> </p><p>Suga drags a pouting Oikawa to and fro through the building. Stopping to marvel at some of the local arts, or insisting they try every flavor of olive oil dip for bread. He makes Oikawa buy him an extremely expensive latte from a place called Blue Bottle. He buys little miniature golden gate bridges for his friends at a souvenir shop. He spends a good five minutes just staring at the board that announced the departure time for each of the ferries. Oohing and aahing every time the numbered cards shuffled rapidly around. He tried to convince Oikawa to get on one of the ferries at random but Oikawa had to draw the line somewhere. He didn’t want to be lost forever. </p><p> </p><p>Suga doesn’t let go of his hand the entire time. He would say he isn’t being subtle. That it would be nearly impossible for Oikawa not to get the hint. But this was Oikawa Tooru he was dealing with, and honestly, Suga was pretty sure Oikawa didn’t notice anything different. </p><p> </p><p>After fully exploring the Ferry Building Suga insists they walk along the piers to try to see the Campanile from across the bay. So they start walking towards the bay bridge where Berkeley could be spotted in the Oakland hills. </p><p> </p><p>Suga chews absently at the end of the straw, his iced latte long gone but still needing something to do with his nervous energy. </p><p> </p><p>They were still holding hands. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa still acted like this was a totally normal thing. Drawing absolutely no attention to it at all was he fiddled with his new phone in his other hand. (Oikawa had revealed he had the phone the entire time when the ringtone suddenly went off as they were standing in line for Suga coffee. Suga had laughed for a good long while about it and couldn’t quite find it in himself to pretend to be mad at Oikawa for not taking the challenge seriously.) </p><p> </p><p>“You know,” Suga starts, casting his eyes down to the side. “I’m really glad I broke up with Atsumu.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa snorts, not looking away from his phone. “You should be, he’s literally the worst person I know.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga sighs, gathering his confidence he squeezes Oikawa’s hand firmly. “I’m glad I broke up with him so I can spend more time with<em> you,</em>” Suga says, implication firm in his voice. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa just hums, thumb scrolling on his phone. Suga waits for him to get it, to realize what he just said, and when Oikawa inhales sharply his heart starts to hammer wildly in his chest and he freezes in anticipation. “My professor just moved the due date for our essay up by a week,” He growls as he glares at the screen of his phone like it personally attacked him. “Great, now I’ll have to spend all this week not doing it and then cram on Sunday.” he groans and Suga deflates. </p><p> </p><p>Why did he have to catch feelings for the densest man of all time??</p><p> </p><p>“I was so looking forward to not doing this till next Sunday too,” Oikawa whines like a child and, despite his disappointment, Suga can’t help the fondness that creeps onto his face. </p><p> </p><p>“Poor thing,” he pats his arm. “Don’t worry, I’ll go with you to Moffitt sometime and we can work together.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa brightens and quickly launches into a discussion of his schedule and when he would be free to go to the library and no Suga you can go to your office hours a different day because it’s been literal weeks since I’ve gotten a facial and I cannot let my pores get any bigger. </p><p> </p><p>Suga just rolls his eyes and laughs. He guesses he can wait for Oikawa to get it, just a little longer for them to go from whatever they are now to whatever they are rapidly hurtling to next. Because when they finally do spot their campus across the bay Oikawa gets so excited he demands to take a selfie and he still doesn’t let go of their hands even when he has to awkwardly try to maneuver his one free hand to get the perfect angle. When Oikawa shows him the picture they're both smiling wider than Suga thinks he’s ever seen either of them smile. As Oikawa jabbers on about whether to just add it to his story or make it a real post, Suga thinks maybe they're kinda maybe dating already, and gleefully swings their interlocked hands between them as they walk down the windy streets of the city.</p><p> </p><p>===============</p><p> </p><p>“Anyway, after we took some pictures we went to this Thai food place that was so expensive it was ridiculous. Which is another thing about San Francisco. Why is everything so expensive? I mean for a quarter of the price you could get much better food in Oakland.” Oikawa huffs. </p><p> </p><p>Wait. He furrowed his brows. </p><p> </p><p>Were he and Suga holding hands that day? He thinks back and starts when he realizes that yes, he and Suga had held hands the entire day and he didn’t even notice. </p><p> </p><p>He could almost hear Iwa laughing at him. </p><p> </p><p>He pauses when he realizes there’s no one teasing him or reprimanding him for mistreating their beloved doctor. He looks up to find everyone looking at him in rapt attention, even Nishinoya looks intrigued and Bokuto’s eyes are a little misty. </p><p> </p><p>“Wow,” Bokuto says. “This is so cute, you guys grew so much.” He chokes out. “You grew into the type of the people the other could love.” He wails and Kuroo pats him sympathetically on the back. </p><p> </p><p>“So what happened next?” Yachi asks. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, something must have happened with you guys?”</p><p> </p><p>“Seriously, there is so much UST and I’m just hearing about it secondhand.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa’s cheeks start to burn red. “Please, nothing ever happened,” he mutters. </p><p> </p><p>A disappointed “awwww” echoes around him and he tenses. He hates people pitying him. </p><p> </p><p>“It's not like I wanted anything to happen anyways!” He shouts defensively and Yachi leans away from him. “We were roommates that got along sometimes and hated each other much more of the time.” He stands. “And I think that’s enough for storytime, I’d like to go to bed now. Thanks.” Yachi and Hinata scramble out of their seats so he can slide out of the booth. He ignores the mutters around him and he grabs his crutches and hobbles off to his borrowed booth room.</p><p> </p><p>He throws his crutches beside the bed, not caring where they fall as he shuffles into the bed and tugs the curtains closed around him. He curls his knees up to his chest. </p><p> </p><p>He stares out the window that’s behind his bed. It was on the other side of the restaurant than the circle booth so he couldn’t see the movie theater but it still felt like it was looming in the distance, just out of sight. </p><p> </p><p>He hadn’t lied when he said nothing ever happened. They never even as much as kissed. No matter how much he might have wanted to back then. There was one night, where he thought maybe. Where it felt like the careful balance the two of them maintained was about to break, and they were going to fall off the careful wall they had built into the much better world below. But they didn’t. Nothing ever happened.</p><p> </p><p>===============</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Berkeley: Sophomore Year, April</b>
</p><p> </p><p>They’re drunk. Oikawa thinks as he lets Suga tug him up the stairs. </p><p> </p><p>He’s absolutely wasted. He reminds himself as Suga slides open a window and climbs out onto the roof.</p><p> </p><p>Koushi’s drunk he wills himself to keep in mind as Suga climbs to the highest point and sits down. He’s pretty sure he saw him smoking a joint outside too. He notes as Suga pats the spot next to him a sly look twinkling in his eye. </p><p> </p><p>They really aren’t sober enough to be on the roof of a co-op. They are far too gone to even think about waking up for school tomorrow. And Oikawa is really much too in love to be sitting next to the boy he loves and think about anything but kissing him. </p><p> </p><p>So he looks out over the city instead and lets the view take his breath away instead of pushing it into Koushi’s mouth. To their right is the campus, the Campanile’s tall white tower illuminated by lights as it watches over the rest of their school with her watchful gaze. To the left Oakland is a mess of lights and noise, Oikawa is far too drunk to try to pick out any recognizable building. Then straight ahead of them there’s the bay, nothing but a sea of black broken by the shimmering lights of the bay bridge. Nights without fog are rare, but this seems to be one of those rare nights as San Francisco stands stark against the night sky. The blinding lights of the skyscrapers look like glorious lighthouses in the night, beckoning the rest of the bay to the city. And, if Oikawa squints, he can just make out the soft light of the Golden Gate bridge holding this entire infinitesimal world within its gates.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s beautiful,” he mutters and Suga nods beside him, also enraptured by the view. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m really happy,” Suga says suddenly like it's a revelation. Oikawa turns to him to find Suga already looking at him, his amber eyes wide and bright and a grin stretching the corners of his mouth. “Tooru,” and Oikawa can’t resist the shiver that comes when Suga says his name. “I’m <em> so </em> happy.”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa doesn’t really understand what he’s talking about but Suga being happy is all Oikawa ever wants anymore so he figured it doesn’t really matter. He wraps his arm around Suga’s shoulders, (in a totally platonic no homo way) and smiles stupidly at him. “I’m glad, Koushi.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga is staring at Oikawa's hand on his shoulder, he looks distraught and Oikawa begins to worry that he did something wrong so he pulls his arm away and Suga lets out a whine. “Nooooo,” he moans. “You don’t get it, why don’t you get it?” He buries his face in his hands and Oikawa feels terrible even if he isn’t sure why. </p><p> </p><p>“Ummm, Koushi?” he calls hesitantly, and Suga raises his head to look at him again, his eyes taking a moment to focus. But once they lock onto Oikawa they shift from sad and a little teary to righteously determined, and before Oikawa can breathe, before he can even think, Suga is swinging one of his legs over Oikawa’s, and oh my god he’s sitting in his lap. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa’s drunk brain isn’t really sure how to handle this so it kinda just crashes but when Suga starts swaying dangerously he reacts instinctually and grabs him by his hips. Oh my god, he’s so thin Oikawa feels like he could wrap just his hands around Suga’s waist and he finds he looks anywhere but where his hands are resting on Suga’s body. He wishes Suga wasn’t wearing that shirt, he wishes he could slide his hand under it to feel the warm skin there. He wishes….</p><p> </p><p>Warm hands are cupping his cheeks. He reluctantly glances up to find Suga’s face just inches from his own and he takes a quivering breath, his cheeks flushing red just from the proximity. Suga is looking at him like he’s a problem he wants to solve like he’s a foreign language he’s trying desperately to understand like he wants to tear him apart until he figures out exactly how he works and Oikawa wants to let him. He would let Sugawara Koushi pull him apart by the seams and stitch him back up like one of his bananas if he wanted to. </p><p> </p><p>Suga squeezes his cheeks. “Tooru,” he says seriously, though a little slurred. “I’m happy with you.” Oikawa feels like his heart stops at the words but Suga goes on. “I’m happy cause I’m with you, cause I get to see you everyday, cause I wake up and your stupid face is swearing at the coffee machine again, and I go to bed and your playing Beyonce too loud. Cause you know my favorite coffee drink and I always wanna make you macaroons. Cause your so stupid and dumb and it’s so funny to watch you mess things up all the time,” Suga grins and Oikawa frowns, he doesn’t see why Suga had to add that part but fine he guesses, he’s too drunk on alcohol and Suga’s proximity to really even think about coming up with a witty retort. “I’m so so so so so so,” this goes on for a while but Oikawa could listen to it for hours, “so so happy <em> because of you </em>.” </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa feels his mouth moving but nothing comes out. He can’t even begin to process Suga’s words, he was already lost to amber eyes and hot breath that still had the sharp cinnamon bite of Fireball. Suga's lips are inches from his. He could memorize the shape of his beauty mark from heat and it with a dim fascination that he realizes how much he wants to do just that. He feels dizzy. He feels crazy. He feels like he’s way past drunk and Berkeley gets so cold at night and he’s pretty sure he’s in love.</p><p> </p><p>“Koushi,” he breathes, and even he can hear the desperate naked hope in his voice. “What are you saying?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga searches his eyes for a moment, Oikawa doesn’t know what he’s looking for but he wants to give it to him. God, he wants to give him everything.</p><p> </p><p>Eventually, Suga’s eyes settle somewhere in his irises, his elegant pale hands come up to trace along Oikawa’s cheeks. Oikawa stares helplessly at him. Suga is looking at him like he’s important like he matters like he’s the most precious thing in the entire world and Oikawa is going to explode. </p><p> </p><p>Suga smiles and Oikawa's eyes immediately flick down to his lips. He takes a shaky inhale, and grips Suga’s hips tighter. He drags his gaze back to the other boy's eyes, waiting for something he’s probably been waiting for since Mr. Refreshing held up a number nine from the sidelines of a volleyball game.</p><p> </p><p>Suga opens his mouth and vomits right onto Oikawa's chest and down his shirt.</p><p> </p><p>What follows is a drunken haze of Oikawa screaming for five minutes straight, resulting in the cops being called to the co-op; which led to a shirtless Oikawa and Suga, clutching a paper bag to his chest and turning green, stumbling out the back door; where they then wandered the streets trying to get back to their apartment; somehow ended up at the Taco Bell on Durant; spent at least fifty dollars on Doritos Locos Tacos and Baja Blasts; Oikawa finally giving up and ordering an Uber; Oikawa crying as the Uber driver talks about her astrophysics degree; and finally, tumbling into their apartment where Suga demands they both drink water before collapsing on the couch. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa takes a shower. He walks past a snoring Suga on the way back from the bathroom. He stares at him for a moment. He really hopes they talk about it in the morning.</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>They didn’t talk about it in the morning, and just a few days later everything fell apart and Oikawa came back to the apartment to find it half empty and his contact vanished from his phone. Only Oikawa was sure it wasn’t a joke this time. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa shakes his head and brings his hands up to clutch at his hair. It had been so long since he thought about his past like this. Since he thought about Koushi and their time together and everything they might have been but weren’t. Since he thought about how he had fallen in love with a boy who used to piss him off with his target serves and then with his need for everything in their dorm to be clean and then with how absolutely perfect he was. Since he thought about the fact that every man he tried to date after was short, lean, with light hair and dark eyes. </p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t want to think about it. He hates thinking about it. </p><p> </p><p>The apocalypse was supposed to be about smashing zombies' skulls with crowbars, not heartbreak over a boy he used to love. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa lies down with a scowl. Closing his eyes and trying to think about anything but his past, about anything but their last year in college together.</p><p> </p><p>But of course, no one is lucky in the apocalypse.</p><p> </p><p>=====================</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Berkeley: Junior Year </b>
</p><p> </p><p>He would see him sometimes. In line at the coffee shop or sitting at one of the campus cafes. His heart would always stutter when he saw that flash of silver hair. His throat would tighten and he would fight every urge that screamed at him to go talk to him and run away as quickly as he could. </p><p> </p><p>He told himself that he was still angry. That he had done nothing wrong and it was Suga who should apologize to him. For not just what happened but for just up and leaving the apartment after. Without even telling him. How dare he? What did he expect, Oikawa was going to drop to his knees and beg him to forgive him? Absolutely not. </p><p> </p><p>Still, Oikawa couldn’t stop his heart from twisting when he saw him laughing in the library or walking across the glade with one of his professors. </p><p> </p><p>He’s pretty sure they actually had a class together in the spring semester. It was a huge class. Some international history class Oikawa was taking for a requirement. He had stumbled in late on the first day, sunglasses on, hangover making his head feel like hell. He slipped into the back row and tried to pay attention to the dry old professor when a shock of silver near the front caught his eye. </p><p> </p><p>He straightened immediately. Eyes locked onto the back of Suga’s head, and it was Suga. No one else took so many notes on the first day or asked things like “when are office hours?”. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa found he paid excellent attention to the rest of the class. Just to the back of Suga’s head instead of the professor. When class ended he made sure he was out of the classroom long before Suga could see him. </p><p> </p><p>For the next couple of weeks, Oikawa would show up to class a couple of minutes late, sit in the back, and stare at Suga. It was probably a little creepy. But he knew he couldn’t stop when he got to hear Suga’s voice when he asked a question, or when he got to watch Suga chew on the end of his pencil like he always used to do when he was really focused on something. Oikawa remembers it distracting him often when they used to study together. </p><p> </p><p>Several weeks in, Oikawa finds not even Suga’s presence can stop international relations from being so boring and he begins nodding off sometime during the professor’s explanation of what realist theory is.</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa doesn’t know how long he sleeps before his head is snapping up when a familiar voice calls out <em> “Oikawa?” </em></p><p> </p><p>Oikawa straightens when he sees Suga staring at him in a mixture of shock and anger. He’s holding a textbook protectively against his chest and Oikawa thinks about how long its been since he’s actually looked Suga in the eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“Um,” He stutters as he tries to think of something to say. Eventually, he settles on a weak “Hi” accompanied by a shaky wave. </p><p> </p><p>Suga doesn’t reply. Just glowers at him for another moment before turning and walking away without a word. </p><p> </p><p>When Oikawa shows up to class next week Suga isn’t there. He isn’t there the week after that, or the week after that. </p><p> </p><p>Eventually, Oikawa cracks and asks the girl who always sat next to Suga where he was. She said that he had a scheduling conflict so she was recording the lectures for him. He didn’t really listen to what else she said because she said all he needed to hear. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa stopped going to that class for the rest of the semester. </p><p> </p><p>He wasn’t the least bit surprised when he failed the class. </p><p> </p><p>And when he saw on Facebook that Suga had graduated a year early and was off to medical school on the other side of the country Oikawa figured it was probably best to just forget everything that happened. </p><p> </p><p>To just forget him. </p><p> </p><p>================</p><p> </p><p>He groans and buries his face in his pillow.  </p><p> </p><p>He hates that he can still feel this way about something that happened so many years ago. About something that he told himself he had moved on from. </p><p> </p><p>Why did he still feel so much anger and sadness and <em>so much regret?  </em></p><p> </p><p>He hates Mr. Refreshing. He hates Mr. Refreshing. He <em>hate</em>s Mr. Refreshing— </p><p> </p><p>There’s a sudden commotion from the other side of his curtains that has Oikawa sitting up and tensing. Shit, what if they were being attacked? What if they could see Ushiwaka coming with his big guns and whatever else? How was Oikawa going to defend himself with crutches and self-pity?</p><p> </p><p>Before he can spiral any further the curtains of his room are suddenly being torn open and the very object of all his inner turmoil, Mr. Refreshing himself, is there. Panting and staring at him with a wild look in his eye. </p><p> </p><p>Oikawa quickly shoves everything he was thinking about to the back of his mind and assumes his cocky confident grin. “Welcome back, Doctor Refreshing.” He sneers. But Suga doesn’t even flinch, still looking at him with that frantic stare. </p><p> </p><p>“Oikawa,” he gasps out. “I found Iwazumi.”</p><p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i feel exhausted just looking at this chapter oof</p><p>Bokuto is a hopeless romantic, convince me otherwise</p><p>anyways this is basically my love letter to Berkeley I'm so sorry about all the super-specific references, COVID is making me miss my school </p><p>Cafe Blue door is a coffee shop near campus and my favorite place to study!</p><p>Memorial glade is like this big grassy area near the middle of campus where people like to chill and smoke weed lol</p><p>The Campanile is our beautiful bell tower and she is my wife and i love her, please look up a picture so u can see her beauty</p><p>Taco Bell on Durant is a magical place that you somehow just magically teleport to when ur drunk</p><p>Moffitt is probably the most popular library to study in, its just filled with comfy couches and chairs </p><p>Ummm i think that's mostly it but if there's anything else that i didn't explain let me know</p><p>also international relations is my major and i can just imagine oikawa being super bored by ir theory lol</p><p>Anyways that's all for now, i hope you like and as always please let me know what you think </p><p>-sunny</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Yaku Morisuke Hates High School Reunions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Yaku and Lev are just back for a routine trip but oooo man...thats like, super rough... this is awkward, should we like...go?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yaku rolls his eyes as Lev practically vibrates in the driver's seat. </p><p> </p><p>“Calm down, will you?” he snaps. “You’re shaking the entire car.”</p><p> </p><p>Lev gives him an apologetic smile but doesn’t stop bouncing in his seat. “Sorry, Yaku! It’s just been so long since we’ve seen Captain and Kenma!” His pale eyes sparkle. “I’m so excited to see them!”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku rolls his eyes. “It’s only been like, two weeks,” he mutters but can’t really muster the energy to argue back more than that. He’d never admit it but he’s pretty excited to see his old teammates and the rest of the Denny’s crew. </p><p> </p><p>The past two weeks had been hard. Well, harder than normal. </p><p> </p><p>They had set out south, in search of supplies and survivors. Kuroo may not admit it, but they couldn’t live in a Denny’s forever. He and Yaku actually got in a pretty bad fight about it a few months back. It had ended with Yaku declaring he was leaving with or without the others and stomping out the door of the Denny’s. Of course, he didn’t make it very far before loud lumbering steps came up from behind him and he turned to see Lev’s stupid giddy face. </p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing, Lev?” he had snapped. </p><p> </p><p>Lev shrugged, still grinning like an idiot. “What, you thought I was just gonna let you go off on your own, senpai?”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku scoffed at Lev’s stupid nickname for him. “I don’t need your help, Lev. Go back to Kenma.”</p><p> </p><p>Lev shook his head.  “Aww but Yaku-san, how would you reach the top shelf?”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku’s face turned red with fury and he kicked a laughing Lev in the shin. </p><p> </p><p>And well, from then on Yaku hadn’t gone anywhere without Lev trailing a few feet behind him like a Siberian husky puppy. </p><p> </p><p>They came back to the Denny’s eventually. Of course they did. No matter how many times they fought, Yaku and Kuroo always sheepishly came back to each other with halfhearted apologies and elbows thrown into each other's sides. Even the apocalypse wouldn’t change that. </p><p> </p><p>But Yaku found he could only stand a few days in the restaurant before his skin would start to crawl and the air would feel like it was choking him and he would slip back out the doors and into the world. Sometimes he left after starting another fight with Kuroo, it made him feel justified in leaving, and not like he was abandoning his friends because he was having some kind of claustrophobic breakdown. Or sometimes he would leave in the middle of the night, without notice and without sound. But even then Lev seemed to have some sort of sixth sense that was perfectly attuned to Yaku’s whereabouts.</p><p> </p><p>So he and Lev became wanderers of a sort. They scoured the wasteland that was once Monterey on foot and, once they found their van, by car. They scouted out sights that were too far for the Denny’s crew to reach in a day and brought back supplies that couldn’t be found in the area. It mainly consisted of driving to different small towns more inland and raiding gas stations or pharmacies for whatever they could find. Though sometimes they have been on more specific quests. Such as the time they drove to Bitterwater on rumors of a weapons cache. Or when they drove down the coast stopping at various docks trying to find a boat they could hijack. </p><p> </p><p>Lev kept trying to talk him into driving to Disneyland but Yaku shut that down pretty quick.  </p><p> </p><p>Can you even imagine the haunted mansion ride with like, actual zombies? Or<em> Small World?</em> Yaku shudders just thinking about it. </p><p> </p><p>This most recent trip had taken them further than they had ever gone before. As the apocalypse continued, supplies were starting to dwindle. They had to travel greater distances to try to find the things they needed. It's unclear exactly what parts of the state the most survivors were and where the hordes had completely taken over. From the scattered rumors, MARs reports, and their travels around the Central Valley they've figured that most of California's remaining population was clustered in various strongholds and settlements in the Bay Area; with the rest taking rumoredly taking refuge in the thick forests further north. The southern half of the state hadn't fared as well. LA had been a major epicenter of the disease and one of the first cities to completely break down. By now if you were alive in Southern California you were mostly trying to get away from it.</p><p> </p><p>But the lack of living settlements meant that the further south you went the more supplies you were able to find. So Lev and Yaku tended to travel in that direction.</p><p> </p><p>They had been in search of antibiotics for Suga, as well as ammo. While they had found the ammo in a nearly stripped Walmart in San Lucas their search for medicine had proved futile. Not for a lack of trying. Yaku had pushed them nearly to Bakersfield before he finally relented that they should probably turn back. </p><p> </p><p>The clanking of the van against a curb pulls Yaku back to the present.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re here!” Lev cheers as they pull into the Denny’s parking lot. </p><p> </p><p>Yaku sits up in his seat as the bright yellow sign greets him. He spots Suga leaning against the wall outside of the restaurant, a cigarette in his hand. He brightens when he sees them and waves. Lev waves eagerly back, taking his hands off the steering wheel and sending their van onto the curb and into the branches of a long-dead shrub. </p><p> </p><p>“Lev!” Yaku barks as he is jostled from the bump. He sees Suga hide a snark behind his hand. Lev shoots him an apologetic look that doesn’t really seem all that sorry before pulling the car into park without bothering to pull it off the curb. He’s scrambling out of the car before Yaku can scold him further.</p><p> </p><p>Lev scoops Suga into a crushing hug that causes him to drop his cigarette with a gasp as Yaku steps out of the car in a much more dignified manner. </p><p> </p><p>“Lev,” Suga laughs breathlessly from Lev’s arms. “It’s good to see you.”</p><p> </p><p>Lev finally sets the other man down as the front door of the restaurant bursts open in a flurry of orange hair. “Lev!” Hinata squeals as he barrels into the taller man who grabs him back with a wide grin. “Oh my god, it's been forever!”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s been two weeks,” Yaku mutters under his breath, though his annoyance quickly vanishes when he feels a warm hand on his shoulder and turns to meet Suga’s grinning face. </p><p> </p><p>“Yaku,” he greets. </p><p> </p><p>“Suga.”</p><p> </p><p>They grin at each other for a moment before breaking out in giggles and pulling each other into a hug. Nowhere as fierce as Lev’s but just as familiar. </p><p> </p><p>He and Suga had always gotten along in high school, but after graduation Yaku was sure they would never see each other again. It wasn’t like they were particularly close outside of their mutual bond of having to deal with their impossible team members. So imagine his surprise when he stopped by his nursing station to start his rounds as usual and he came face to face with a ghost from the past, being introduced as one of the new residents at the hospital. They fell into their old rhythm surprisingly quickly, and their gossip about their teams evolved into gossip about the other hospital staff. They worked amazingly well together, and eventually, the hospital administrator started scheduling their shifts together so they were always on call at the same time. </p><p> </p><p>He and Suga had actually been together when the first reports of the virus started coming in. They were sitting in the break room, an expired croissant in his hand and cold coffee in Suga’s. The news called it a “highly infectious disease affecting the brain”.  They had laughed warily, made jokes about the Walking Dead, and went on to their shift. </p><p> </p><p>The jokes died pretty quickly when a patient in the ER bit a doctor who succumbed to the disease just a few hours later. Seeing a coworker, a respected doctor, someone he had talked to and passed in the hallway and asked "how's the wife and kids?", strapped to a hospital bed snarling and screaming with bloodshot eyes and pale skin really took the humor out of the situation. </p><p> </p><p>Yaku pulls back from the embrace with a regretful look. “You got my message about the antibiotics?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga nods, giving him a consoling pat on the shoulder. “Yeah, I did. Don’t beat yourself up about it, Yaku. I’m sure we’ll find some soon.”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku can hear the false hope in his voice but says nothing as the group finally walks into the restaurant. </p><p> </p><p>Kenma is perched on his usual spot behind the hostess counter, he sits up with a lazy stare as the door swings open. He lets out an exasperated sigh when he sees Lev barreling towards with all the eagerness of a puppy. But Yaku can see mirth and affection swirling in his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“Kenma-san!” Lev cheers as he plucks Kenma from his stool and starts swinging him around wildly. </p><p> </p><p>“Lev!” Kenma gasps in surprise, his hair flying around his face as he pounds his fists on Lev’s back. “Put me down, you idiot! I’m pretty sure this is a lethal fucking drop.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga and Yaku laugh and Hinata just beams. </p><p> </p><p>Yaku moves forward to wrap his former underclassmen into a much gentler--but just as affectionate--hug. He smiles warmly at Kenma as he pulls back. Those golden, cat-like eyes blink back at him, as bored and coldly calculating as ever. It only pulls the smile on his lips wider. Something about seeing Kenma always took him right back to his high school days. It may have something to do with the fact that Kenma looks like he has hardly aged since their school days. But Lev always teases him that it’s because he still feels the same fierce protectiveness for the brain of their team, the same intrinsic urge to wrap his younger up in a big fluffy blanket and tell him to finally sleep and maybe eat something for once in his life. </p><p> </p><p>He had turned red to the tips of his ears and stammered out protests when Lev said this on one of their many scavenging trips. But Lev had just grinned at him and wrapped his long arm around Yaku’s shoulders. (Which did NOT help with his red face.) “Don’t worry, senpai.” Lev hummed. “I feel the same way.”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku shakes Lev’s voice from his head and steps past Kenma to look around the restaurant. “So where is he? Did the idiot finally manage to get himself killed? Lemme guess, he cut himself on his own stupid spikey hair and bled to death.”</p><p> </p><p>“C’mon, Yaku. We all know if I’m dead it’s because you finally killed me.”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku whirls to his left to see Kuroo leaning against the bar with a smirk. Yaku grins wolfishly at him and strides forward to grip Kuroo’s arm tightly. “Damn right,” he affirms.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo laughs and suddenly Yaku is collapsing into his captain's chest as Lev crashes into him from behind with a “CAPTAINNNNN!!!!!!!”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo only laughs harder as Lev wraps his arms around both of them, trapping Yaku between two of the tallest people he knows and very <em>not </em>happy about it. “LEV,” he shrieks. “Let go of me!”</p><p> </p><p>Lev pouts. “But I’m just saying hi to Kuroo-san!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, Yaks. He’s just saying hi, don’t be such a dick. Hi, Lev!”</p><p> </p><p>“Hi, Captain!”</p><p> </p><p>“I hate both of you so much.”</p><p>
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</p><p>--------------------</p><p> </p><p>After a flurry of hugs from the others and appropriately manly handshakes from Nishinoya and Tanaka, they introduced (re-introduced? Yaku can’t remember if they ever met in high school) to Oikawa Tooru, who apparently was the setter and captain for Aoba Johsai while they were all in school. Yaku just shrugs and shakes the guy's hand.</p><p> </p><p>He had given up on his life being normal years ago. </p><p> </p><p>They’re scattered around the bar now, Yaku nursing a beer while Lev dramatically retells their latest journey. Adding quite a few details for flair. Though Yaku snorts into his glass when Lev starts talking about a <em> zombie bear ( </em>that Yaku definitely does not remember him fighting, or even existing for that matter) and shares a knowing look with Kenma that definitely gives Lev away. But he finishes the story, oblivious to the others' amused looks. </p><p> </p><p>The setting sun has turned the restaurant a vintage amber when Kuroo finally stands up and calls the restaurant's attention with a lazy wave of his whiskey.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright everyone, it’s Sunday. You know what that means.”</p><p> </p><p>A collective groan rises from the table and everyone starts standing to grab their drinks and migrate over to the circle booth. Only Oikawa hesitates. “Umm, would some like to actually say ‘what that means’?” he asks snarkily. </p><p> </p><p>Bokuto claps him on the back as he passes. “That means it’s briefing day, dude!”</p><p> </p><p>Once they’re all settled into the booth, Yaku sitting in between Suga and Lev, Kuroo takes out the most pretentious fucking <em> clipboard </em>that Yaku has ever seen and starts talking, “Alrighty then. First thing on the list, if you somehow haven’t noticed his whiny-ass voice we have a new member!” Kuroo cheers as he gestures to a grumpy Oikawa, sitting on a chair by himself. “Welcome to your first Sunday Briefing, Newbie! Do you have any words you’d like to say?”<br/><br/></p><p>Oikawa blinks slowly. “I hate it here.”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku hears Suga huff, annoyed, beside him. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo just laughs and looks back to his clipboard, moving on to the next item. “Okay next things are just recaps from the MARs.” he hums thoughtfully as he starts to list them. “We know that the large horde we saw pass through a month ago is still heading south, I’m thinking since it’s starting to get colder in the north more of them will congregate in the south for the Winter. Like a sort of migration." Kuroo pauses and strokes his chin "They don’t like the cold.” He muses. </p><p> </p><p>Yaku rolls his eyes. Yeah, duh. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that, Kuroo. Stop talking like you just cured the virus. </p><p> </p><p>“Memorial Hospital has been raided so we will have to see about finding another source for medical equipment.” Yaku tunes him out as he continues to drone on about what was in the MARs. He and Lev listened to the report every Thursday in their minivan. Yaku really didn’t need to hear these things twice. </p><p> </p><p>He tunes back in when Kuroo finally looks up from the clipboard. “And that’s if for announcements! Now on to individual concerns,” Yaku feels Suga start to raise his hand but Kuroo barrels on. “No one wants to go first? Okay, I will!”</p><p> </p><p>Suga just glares as he slowly lowers his hand. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo shoots him a wink and then suddenly the easy, joking expression on his face is gone. He switches into what Yaku likes to call “Captain-mode”. “I have concerns about New San Francisco taking over the nuclear facility.”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku straightens at that. Yeah, he had been worried about that too. </p><p> </p><p>“Now that they think they've secured the center they're gonna try to take the reactors out of the emergency shut-down protocol they went into after the virus.” Kuroo rubs a hand over his mouth. “Who knows if they have <em> anyone </em>that knows what they’re doing.”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku shivers at the idea. </p><p> </p><p>“You’re saying we could have a nuclear disaster basically on our doorstep?” Yachi mutters weakly to the stained wood of the table, her small body shaking slightly at the thought. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo nods. “If even the slightest thing goes wrong in the reactivation process it could lead to an explosion that would send out radioactive material for <em>miles</em>. We would basically be neighbors with Chernobyl." He babbles. "And that’s not even mentioning the fact that those people in Stanford are probably gonna try to take it!” He brought up a hand to clutch at his perfectly gelled hair. “There’s gonna be guns! And probably bombs! In. A. Nuclear. Energy. Plant.” He shrieks as he turns pale. “This is like a nuclear engineer's worst nightmare!”</p><p> </p><p>A heavy silence falls over the table as the severity of the situation sinks in. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, the silence is broken by a thoughtful voice. “You're a chemist, not a nuclear engineer.” Kenma corrects from beside Kuroo. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo flaps an annoyed hand at his boyfriend. “Close enough.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga arches a brow. “Close enough? So can I say doctors are basically chemists now?”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo actually looks offended. “Absolutely not!”</p><p> </p><p>“Guys!” Daichi snaps. “Can we please talk about the potential ground zero that’s about to be where we are sitting?” </p><p> </p><p>Everyone's mouth falls shut and a hushed quiet sits heavily over the group again. </p><p> </p><p>“Well it’s obvious isn’t it?” Yaku snaps his head up to Oikawa who is resting his chin in his hand looking very bored. “Just move.” </p><p> </p><p>Several gasps and half protests rise from the table before Oikawa speaks up again, aggravated, “Oh please. What are you going to do? Go take the place yourselves?” He scoffs. “They have thousands of people with probably military-grade weaponry. You guys are a bunch of old volleyball players who raided the gun section at Walmart. What chance do you stand?”</p><p> </p><p>Nishinoya has turned red in the face, fists clenched impossibly tight on the countertop. Bokuto is growling under his breath. Tanaka stands up. “Now listen here pretty boy, don’t think that you can just come in here and-”</p><p> </p><p>“He’s right.” Suga’s voice cuts through loud and clear and all eyes snap to him. </p><p> </p><p>“What, Suga?” Tanaka demands incredulously and Yaku notes Oikawa watching Suga with a blistering intensity. </p><p> </p><p>Despite all the eyes on him, Suga’s own eyes are closed. His face is drawn into a tight grimace. “He’s right.” He repeats grimly. “We should leave. What other option do we have?”</p><p> </p><p>From the corner of his eye, Yaku watches Oikawa quickly slip back into an expression of nonchalance and shrug in an almost mocking way. “Oh, there is another one." He hums and the tables attention turns to him.</p><p> </p><p>"You could always just stay.”</p><p> </p><p>Suga shoots him a doubtful look and a slow, thin grin spreads over Oikawa’s face. It reminds him a bit of a snake. “Maybe nothing happens. Maybe they do have smart people up there and everything’s fine. You’re little Denny’s remains fine right where it is.” Oikawa’s voice is low and lilting in the most ominous way and Yaku feels like he’s been pinned to the chair by Oikawa’s words like an insect in a case.</p><p> </p><p>Every little thing about Oikawa suggested power. From the way his long hair casts a shadow over his face that cuts it into harsh, yet still handsome angles like some Grecian statue come to life. To the way his long, elegant fingers swung gently to and fro with every word, enunciating the constants and swaying with the vowels; giving his speech an almost disarming quality. Like he was trying to distract you. Or the way his brown eyes looked almost black with the intensity and scrutiny that shone within them.</p><p> </p><p>Yaku can’t imagine what it must have been like to face him on the court. It must have been terrifying.</p><p> </p><p>“Well? Are you willing to take the risk, Mr. Refreshing?”</p><p> </p><p>He also can’t imagine what it must be like to be on the other end of that thousand-pound stare. But when he nervously glances to his side he finds Suga looking unfazed. He sits straight, with his amber eyes staring back at Oikawa with just as much intensity, though more clear and sure.</p><p> </p><p>Less suffocating, Yaku thought. </p><p> </p><p>“We should start making plans to move far enough away to be out of the fallout zone" Suga affirms. "Even if nothing happens the risk is too great.” Suga finally breaks eye contact with Oikawa to look at each of them. Yaku feels like he’s been shocked when Suga looks at him. He almost forgot he was actually part of this conversation, it felt more like watching a drama on TV. “None of your lives are worth risking over a restaurant,” Suga says firmly, and though Yaku had already been on board (he was never attached to the Denny’s anyway) any doubts he had are extinguished by the sureness in Suga’s voice and the promise in his stare. </p><p> </p><p>It had always been an extraordinary ability Suga had. No matter how dire you thought the situation was Suga could convince you that everything was going to be all right with a few words and that bright smile.</p><p> </p><p>He sees Tanaka flop down with a huff. Nishinoya and Bokuto look stubbornly quelled, puffing their cheeks out in childish frustration. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo’s face remains carefully impassive but he finally nods. “You’re right, it’s an unnecessary risk if we stay.”</p><p> </p><p>“We can’t just up and leave though!” Hinata protests, sounding a little heartbroken. “Where are we gonna go? How are we all gonna get there?”</p><p> </p><p>Bokuto quickly dashes over to pat Hinata’s head. “Don’t worry, Hinata! We’ll find a way! We can get a bus or something!” Hinata brightens at Bokuto’s assurances but Yaku reaches for Lev’s hand under the table and gives it a tight squeeze, giving him a sad look from the corner of his eye. </p><p> </p><p>Lev’s lips are drawn in a tight line. His green eyes meet Yaku’s for half a second before returning to his lap. They both knew what leaving the Denny’s meant. Big groups draw too much attention and the gas that they would need to transport a group this big far enough away would be near impossible to obtain. Unless they wanted to try to reach one of the settlements--which presented a whole other set of challenges--there was just no way they would all be able to stay together.</p><p> </p><p>Yaku quickly shook the thought of never seeing Kenma or Kuroo again from his mind before he started crying in front of everyone. That would be so embarrassing, absolutely not. </p><p> </p><p>“We will have to take some time to figure it out,” Kuroo adds diplomatically. “Get some vehicles for everyone secured, figure out how far away we need to be safe. Yada Yada Yada.” He offers them all his crooked grin and the tension starts to slowly drain from the room. “I doubt they are gonna try to do anything with it for at least a couple of weeks. They might be dumb but no one is <em> that </em>dumb.”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku doesn’t think he shares Kuroo’s same faith in humanity’s intelligence, but sure, okay. </p><p> </p><p>Kuroo claps his hands together. “One thing at a time people let’s just get through this briefing!” He points a finger at Suga. “I believe Suga had an individual issue he wanted to bring up?”</p><p> </p><p>Suga jumps at the mention of his name, having been lost deep in thought. “Huh? What?” He blinks, remembering himself. “Oh yes!” He glances briefly at Oikawa before breaking out into a grin. “If we have to leave how’d you guys like to leave with a bang?”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone pauses. </p><p> </p><p>“Suga, what are you talking about?” Nishinoya demands. Though Yaku notices with some dread that Nishinoya already looks completely on board with whatever insane plane Suga is scheming. </p><p> </p><p>“Okay, first of all, Oikawa and I’s friend have been kidnapped by Frozen II,” Suga explains calmly. </p><p> </p><p>Several gasps rise from the table. Yaku is just more lost. Oikawa glares sharply at Suga. “You said you weren’t gonna tell anyone yet.” he grits out. </p><p> </p><p>Suga gives him an unimpressed look. “Oh I’m sorry, I’m actually making up a plan to <em>save </em> Iwaizumi. But <em> no</em>, we’ll keep it our little secret, hm?”</p><p> </p><p>Oikawa grits his teeth together but has no retort, looking far too hopeful to make any objection believable. </p><p> </p><p>Suga sighs and goes on. “I am going to do everything I can to rescue Iwaizumi.” Yaku’s eyebrows shot up. That’s a pretty bold declaration for someone Yaku is positive he had never heard Suga mention before. Though this is Suga. He’d get self-sacrificing for probably anyone. “That’s probably going to piss off Shiratorizawa.” Suga frowns. “They would know it was us too, I’m the only one that knows he’s there, and they know exactly where to find us.” Suga’s voice is grim but a smile slowly stretches across his face as he brings a finger up to tap his temple. “But if we do it the night before we leave they wouldn’t know where to look!” Suga finishes. </p><p> </p><p>The sound of Oikawa's chair scraping against the floor is jarring. He’s on his feet, balancing precariously on his one good foot, staring at Suga with something wild in his eyes. “Yes,” he says breathlessly, his eyes darting back and forth like he’s formulating the plans in his head. “Yes it’s perfect we just have to get in, get Iwa, and be out before they even know he’s gone!" He brings his fist down onto his hand. "And then by the time they even think to look for us, we'll be long gone." Oikawa turns back to Suga, and his smile is so wide and so genuine that Yaku has trouble reconciling this person with the Oikawa he had seen just a few minutes ago. "It's brilliant, Suga!” he breathes and he sounds a little in awe.</p><p> </p><p>Yaku turns just in time to catch Suga’s cheeks actually turn a light red as his eyes widen and he ducks his head. He doesn’t say anything back but Yaku doesn’t miss the wistful smile on his lips. </p><p> </p><p>Yaku's mouth falls open and he stares at Suga in shock for a moment. What was all that? Did Oikawa and Suga?</p><p> </p><p>A lightbulb goes off over Yaku's head. He blinks and then scowls at his friend. He cannot believe Suga has not told him about this torrid gay romance he has with Aobo Johsai’s Captain! He is absolutely getting the full story on this after the meeting. Yaku cannot believe this. </p><p> </p><p>(And to think, he told Suga about the time he drunkenly made out with Kuroo!)</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo grins knowingly between Suga and Oikawa and Yaku mentally adds him to his shitlist too. He clearly also knows something Yaku doesn’t! “Well, it seems we have a lot of plans to make.” He stops to yawn and stretch. “But it’s late and I’m too tired to think anymore.” He gives a lazy nod to Daichi. “Daichi, you got the raid list?”</p><p> </p><p>Daichi nods and stands with a small leather notebook in his hands. Yaku bites back a groan. Why did they always come the day before the Costco raids? What a pain.</p><p> </p><p>Daichi clears his throat. “Okay, so here’s who’s going on the raid tomorrow. We’re leaving at five so be up bright and early!” He announces in that commanding voice he has. “Bokuto! Tanka! Hinata!” </p><p> </p><p>Hinata fist pumps and lets out a little, “Yes!”</p><p> </p><p>Daichi pauses and looks at Lev. “I’m assuming you’ll want to come too, Lev?”</p><p> </p><p>Lev--who is practically <em>vibrating </em>in excitement--nods. </p><p> </p><p>Daichi grins. “Alright, that's it then. I’ll see you all in the morning.”<br/><br/></p><p>With that everyone stands from the table and heads to their prospective booth beds. Suga gives him a quick squeeze to the shoulder before moving to the hostess desk for the first watch. Cleverly avoiding Yaku's questioning looks but Yaku was too tired to push it.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo leads them to the spare booth bed and Yaku stubbornly ignores his smug leer when he says “And I’m assuming you’ll only need one?”<br/><br/></p><p>Lev just smiled back innocently, unaware of Yaku’s burning cheeks. “Yep! Thanks, Kuroo!”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo just snickers as he walks away. Yaku crawls into the booth with a huff and pulls the curtains tight around him. Lev’s big head pops through the curtains a moment later, his wide green eyes staring at him curiously. “Something wrong, Yaku-san?” </p><p> </p><p>Yaku clicks his tongue and turns away. “He’s making fun of us you know.” He mutters harshly. But Lev just smiles and climbs into the booth beside him, his big gangly limbs knocking harshly into Yaku. Forcing him to be maneuvered around as he shouts at the other man. </p><p> </p><p>Once they’re finally comfortable (Lev with his legs sprawled over the edge of the booth and Yaku curled under his ridiculously long arm) Lev pecks his forehead and chuckles. “Don’t worry about it, Mori.” He hums. “He only does it cause he knows no one can be as embarrassing as him and Kenma.”</p><p> </p><p>Yaku giggles. “They are the <em> worst</em>.” He closes his eyes and snuggles closer to the man beside him. “Lev?” He asks softly. </p><p> </p><p>“Hm?” Lev responds, the sound rumbling through his chest. </p><p> </p><p>“Make sure to get some extra Nutella for us at Costco tomorrow.”</p><p> </p><p>“Babe, why do you think I’m going?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Me? Not dead? Ik its hard to believe </p><p>Ya know i don't really know what to say I lost inspiration for a long time and then school and work got WAY CRAZY but then tonight I got super inspired and wrote like 30 pages so here we go!</p><p>Thank u for all of u that sent me messages it gave me the little motivation I needed to get back on it</p><p>Missed u all! So glad to be writing again!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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